Calm Before the Storm
by StormTrooper96
Summary: As Ryan Anderson searches for his missing son he is thrown into war once again to decide who will lead the Commonwealth into the future. Throughout his journey, Ryan is faced with multiple challenges to overcome and the ever present threat of the Institute hangs over his head. Luckily for him, his friend Piper is there to watch his back through it all.
1. Out of Time

Too many things were happening in such a short amount of time, at least that's what it felt like to Ryan Anderson. One moment he's enjoying the morning with his wife and child and the next he's descending into a vault as an atomic warhead detonated, then he's frozen in some cyro tube across from his family. It felt like seconds later when he wakes up to see some person in a hazmat suit trying to remove his child from his wife's arms as some mercenary type guy watches and he can only watch as his wife is shot by said guy when she won't give up their son before he's suddenly frozen again. When he awakens this time though the hatch to his cyro tube opens and he collapses to the floor, unaware of how much time has really passed, only that he needed to check on his wife.

Unfortunately, it seems that the bullet had severed her brachial artery and she had died from blood loss shortly after their son was taken. After spending some time to grieve Ryan tried checking on the other people that were frozen with him, but it appeared their life support had failed sometime between their initial freezing and now. Taking one last look at his wife, Ryan left the cyro room and made his way through the vault, determined to get topside and find his and avenge his wife.

Getting out of the vault was more difficult than getting in it seemed, as many of the doors were locked and an infestation of over sized roaches had occurred. Alongside that Ryan was able to somewhat gauge the passage of time as he came across the skeletons of the Vault-Tec staff scattered throughout the vault. Still, he cared little for their fate as he finally managed to reach the lift and get above ground again.

Upon reaching the surface however, Ryan was met with a view of the destruction the warheads had left behind and saw that his neighborhood had been reduced to blown out buildings and rubble, but it would still be a good place to get his bearings and so he walked down from the vault into the neighborhood.

As he walked towards his house, which was somehow still standing, Ryan was surprised to see his Mister Handy, Codsworth still roaming around. The reunion with Codsworth was enlightening to say the least, that two hundred and some odd years had passed in what felt like such a short time was a lot to take in, but the passage of time was irrelevant as he still had to find his son. Ryan had agreed to Codsworth's suggestion to search the neighborhood together, but the search only turned up a bunch of over sized flies that tried to attack the two. After returning home Codsworth suggested checking out the nearby town of Concord, as their where still people there.

"Wait, there are still people in Concord?"

"Yes, they've only shot at me a few times though."

"Oh, that's not reassuring at all Codsworth."

"Sir I believe you would be fine, being a combat veteran and all."

"Yeah, I thought I'd be done with combat after I got out of the Marines, but if it means getting Shaun back then I guess I have no choice."

"Of course Sir, but please do be careful."

"Always am Codsworth don't worry so much."

Ryan than walked into his old bedroom and found the safe that had been installed in the floor under the bed was still intact. After unlocking the safe Ryan opened it to reveal all his things he had kept from his enlistment in the Marines and sorted through what he would take with him while reflecting back on his service.

" _Nora always said she was proud of me, sure participating in the Anchorage Campaign was something to be proud of, but the cost of it…was it really worth it? No one else from my squad made it back, and here I am once again, only instead of my brothers my family's the ones that are gone. Enough of that, I've got to focus on saving Shaun."_ Ryan thought to himself as he changed out of his vault suit into his desert MARPAT fatigues and swapped the N99 pistol he had recovered for the M4 carbine the Marines had allowed him to keep.

Sure the weapon may have been outdated by most standards, but the Marine Corps had only just started phasing out the aging M16 series rifle as opposed to the Army who had already begun circulating a new Laser Rifle as their standard service rifle. Ryan examined the weapon and preformed a functions check on the weapon and was satisfied to hear the hammer strike the firing pin as he pulled the trigger, indicating that the weapon was still functional. Satisfied with his gear Ryan said his goodbyes to Codsworth and headed down the road towards Concord.

As he walked by the old Red Rocket gas station Ryan stumbled across a lone dog resting in the shade. The dog's ears perked up as he approached it.

"Hey boy, you all alone hear?" he asked as the dog whined at him.

"Well, you can tag along with ole' Lance Corporal Anderson if you want."

The dog jumped around happily as he begun to follow behind Ryan.

"Guess I'll call you Dogmeat, I know real original right? But you seem happy enough with it."

The two walked down the road and into Concord where Ryan noticed many of the buildings, while still standing, were boarded up. As Ryan and Dogmeat walked further into town he heard a sudden burst of gunfire coming from the main road through town. Ryan quickly took cover against a nearby building and peaked around the corner with the ACOG sight on his M4. What he saw was a group of people in crude armor assaulting an old museum as people that were dressed in revolutionary style clothing defended themselves with some type of laser weapon.

Ryan leveled his carbine at the nearest raider and fired two rounds into his chest, killing the man, before firing another three at a raider across the street. Despite his ambush several raiders managed to get inside the museum so he and Dogmeat quickly took care of the remaining raiders outside before entering the museum.

Upon entering the museum Ryan received fire from raiders that had reached the upper floors, but fortunately they were terrible shots and Ryan was able to quickly dispatch his assailants with a few well aimed shots. After killing them Ryan and Dogmeat cleared some more rooms before coming across a generator with a working fusion core behind a security gate locked by a nearby terminal. Ryan possessed many skills, but his ability to hack terminals was lacking, so he resorted to simply shooting the lock open with his carbine. With the fusion core secured he and Dogmeat fought the remaining raiders in the building and reached the group that was defending the place.

"Man sure am glad you showed up. I doubt we could have held them off for much longer." The leader of the group told him as Ryan approached.

"It's no trouble really, I'm just glad I still remember how to shoot." Ryan responded.

"Me too, you some type of soldier?"

"I served a few years in the Marines, yeah. I'm Lance Corporal Anderson, but you can just call me Ryan."

"Nice to meet you, I'm Preston Garvey, Commonwealth Minutemen. Now if you don't mind me asking what brought you out here?"

"Someone took my son, he's not even a year old, and I'm trying to find him. I thought I might find some clues here."

"That's fucked up man, only people we've seen around here are Raiders, but if we get out of here I'd try looking in Diamond City next."

"Diamond City huh, well I assume there's still raiders out there?"

"You'd assume right, but Sturges over here's got a plan that might just get us out of here." Preston said as he introduced Ryan to Sturges

"Well let's hear it."

"Alright, I'm sure you noticed the crashed Vertibird on the roof of the museum. Well whoever crashed left a sweet set of power armor up there for us, only thing is the fusion cores burnt out so we'll need a replacement." Sturges explained.

"Hey, I already got one from downstairs!" Ryan exclaimed as he held out the fusion core for Sturges to see.

"Well I'll be damned that's it! Just take that thing to the roof and plug it in, once you're in the suit you'll be able to use the Vertibird's minigun to mop up the raiders outside."

"Sweet, I'm on it." Ryan agreed before he headed to the roof.

The power armor was easy to find and Ryan quickly inserted the fusion core into its port and entered the armor. Power armor was just beginning to enter service in the Marine Corp's mechanized infantry during the Anchorage Campaign, and while Ryan's unit was attached to the Infantry he had never actually seen a full suit up close before, but the armor seemed easy enough to use as he walked up to the minigun and removed it from its mount. Ryan stepped up to the roofs ledge and saw a large group of raiders rushing the building. The minigun took a few seconds to spool up before firing its 5mm rounds, making short work of the surprised raiders as they were ripped apart by the hail of bullets. Ryan jumped to the street below as the last raider fell and proceeded to make sure all of them were dead. As Ryan finished checking one of the raiders he heard the sound of metal being ripped open and turned to see one of the most terrifying creatures he'd ever seen emerge from the sewers. The creature easily dwarfed him and he had no doubt that its large claws would easily tear anyone to shreds in seconds. Ryan didn't waste a second in turning the minigun towards the creature and fired at it. The creature roared in anger as the bullets struck it repeatedly and it began to charge Ryan. Scared out of his mind, Ryan continued to fire at the monster while walking backwards as quickly as he could and found himself backed against the side of the museum. Unfortunately the creature reached Ryan and swiped the minigun out of his hands before tossing him over its shoulder. Ryan crashed to the ground as alarms went off inside his helmet, warning him that his armor was severely damaged. A snarl caught his attention as he saw the monster towering over him with its claws poised to deliver the finishing blow, when a laser bolt passed through its head, frying the creature's brain. As it died it unceremoniously fell on top of Ryan as he was struggling to stand up. Ryan was attempting to shove the creature off himself when the Minutemen ran outside.

"Holy shit! You alright man?" Preston asked.

"Get this thing off of me." Came Ryan's muffled response.

The Minutemen quickly rolled the giant body off of Ryan and seeing that the power armor was severely damaged, hit the emergency release to free Ryan of the armor.

"Fuck, what is that thing!?" Ryan asked as he stood up.

"That's a Deathclaw, one of the wastelands most dangerous creatures. Lucky you were wearing that armor, otherwise, well let's not get into that."

"Yeah no kidding."

"Still that was an impressive feat you just pulled, we should have no trouble getting to Sanctuary now thanks to you."

"It's no trouble Preston, ok maybe a little trouble, but still I'm glad I could help. When you get to Sanctuary talk to my robot Codsworth, he'll help you get settled."

"Appreciate it, I assume you're headed to Diamond City to find your son?"

"That's right."

"Good luck then, I hope you find him. Once I've finished helping these people settle in, and if you ever need a hand you let me know and gladly help."

"You're a good man Preston, I wish you luck."

After saying his goodbyes Ryan and Dogmeat scavenged what supplies they could from the Raiders and headed out of Concord and into the wasteland, uncertain of what the future would hold.


	2. Jewel of the Commonwealth

Piper couldn't believe the nerve of McDonough, keeping her out of her own home like this. She was in the middle of arguing with Danny, the security guard on watch, when she noticed a man dressed in old military fatigues and a dog walk up to the city gates. The man appeared to be around six feet tall, and had dark brown eyes. His hair was short, but a few strands poked out from under his camouflaged hat and it was obvious he hadn't shaved in a few days. In all he looked like your standard mercenary, but something about him told Piper otherwise.

"Hey you come here!" She whispered to the man. As he walked over to her, Piper could make out the writing on his uniform which read: "ANDERSON, U.S. MARINES"

"You in some sort of trouble miss?" He asked.

"Yeah, just stand there and don't talk, ok?" Piper told him, receiving only a shrug in response.

"What's that? You have enough supplies to keep the city going for a month?" She yelled into the speaker. The man raised an eyebrow at her before stepping past her and up to the speaker.

"Yeah that's right, I got plenty of food and ammo that I was hoping to sell, but if your set on keeping these doors closed I guess I'll head elsewhere." He said as he smiled at her.

"Oh, no wait! Hang on one sec!" Came the guard's response just before the gates opened.

"Well, that was easy. Thanks for that, err, sorry never caught you're name."

"Ryan Anderson, and it's no trouble. Not the first time I've had to bullshit past a gate guard." He told her as the two walked into the guard post. Unfortunately, Piper hadn't even stepped five feet inside before an angry Mayor McDonough showed himself.

"Piper! Who let you back inside? I told them to keep that gate Shut!" He yelled at her before proceeding to berate her further. Piper didn't let the insults get to her and defended her right to write the news before bringing Ryan into it.

"Why don't we ask the new guy? You support the news? Cause the mayor's threatening to throw free speech in the dumpster."

"Hey! Freedom of speech is something I fought to defend and if you think you can shit on that then we're going to have a problem." He threatened as he crossed his arms and glared at the mayor, who visibly paled at the threat. Piper however, caught Ryan's comment about defending freedom of speech, confirming her thoughts that he wasn't an ordinary person.

"Oh, I didn't mean to bring you into this argument, sir. No no no… you look like Diamond City material." McDonough said in an attempt to pacify Ryan.

"Yeah, this hasn't been the best welcome. I think it would be best if you went about your business, mayor." Ryan told him, making Piper laugh on the inside as McDonough tried to think of a response but instead decided to take Ryan's advice and leave.

"Ha! You sure showed him! Allow me to thank you again good sir." Piper said as she watched the mayor walk away defeated.

"That ones on me, but I'm glad you enjoyed it miss?"

"Oh, right. Sorry, names Piper and I run the newspaper here in Diamond City. As you can tell, the mayor isn't exactly my biggest fan…"

"Really? I couldn't tell."

"Yeah, anyways what brought you here to Diamond City?" She asked curiously, hoping to figure out more about this strange person. Ryan's face changed from one of confidence to desperation.

"I'm trying to find my son, he was taken from me and he's not even a year old." He answered sadly. Piper could relate to the man somewhat, if anything happened to her sister… but hopefully she could point Ryan in the right direction.

"Oh, I'm sorry that's terrible. Look Diamond City security doesn't investigate missing persons, so don't waste your time with them. We do, however have a detective in town, Nick Valentine, you should go and pay him a visit, I think he could help you."

"Valentine huh, alright. Thanks for the help Piper." He told her as he begun to walk into the city.

"No prob… Hey wait!" She called out to him, causing him to face her again. "Why don't you stop by my office when your done talking to Valentine, maybe I can help out you know spread the word around town?"

Ryan smiled at her offer. "Yeah, I think I will. I appreciate it Piper." He said as he walked into the town.

* * *

It was a few hours later when Piper ran into Ryan and Dogmeat again. She was out picking up dinner for herself and Nat when she saw him leaving the barber shop. Ryan had had his hair cut down to a low fade on the sides and trimmed the top of his hair so it didn't stick out from under his hat anymore, and had also had his face shaved so he had no facial hair. _"He cleans up nice."_ Piper thought to herself as she approached him.

"Hey Blue, how'd your meeting with Nick go?"

"Blue?"

"You know 'cause you're a vault dweller? I know you're not wearing the suit right now, but the Pip-Boy and that 'fish out of water' look? Dead giveaways."

"Uh huh, well it's not the worst nickname I've had."

"Yeah, so back to the meeting."

"Didn't happen, apparently he's gone missing."

"What!?"

"Yeah, his secretary said he went on an investigation and didn't come back. I'm going to go search for him in the morning. And don't worry I didn't forget to come see you, I was just stocking up on some ammo."

"Well, why don't you come by now. I live right next to this place." She said, indicating to the building next to them.

"Sure, after you." Ryan said, gesturing for her to lead the way. Piper led him and Dogmeat to her and Nat's home, where Ryan was kind enough to clear his weapon before entering her home.

"Nat, dinner!" Piper yelled as she set her food down.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Came a reply from somewhere in the house. Ryan looked around the small building that Piper called home. "It's not much, but its home."

"I think it's great. You have a daughter?" Ryan inquired.

"Oh, Nat's my little sister. We've been on our own since we were kids."

"Shit, I'm sorry I didn't know."

"It's alright really. But this is about you."

"Right, what did you have in mind?"

"I wanted to do an interview. Your life story in print, get some outside opinions on the Commonwealth. You do that, and… I'll tell you what. I'll come with you, watch your back while you look for your son."

"You sure you want to come with me, I'm pretty sure I'll be getting into a lot of trouble out there. Have you even been in a firefight before?"

"I can handle myself Blue." Piper stated as she placed a 10mm pistol on the table standing between them. "Besides I want to see where this story goes."

"Well, even if I said no I'm betting you're the type of person that would follow me anyways, why not?"

"Great now let's get started! So I know you're from a vault. How would you describe your time on the inside?"

"Being cryogenically frozen for over two-hundred years is a great way to stay looking young…"

"Wait, you were frozen for that long? You were alive before the war?"

"Yeah, it was surprising for me too. Guess I'll never pick up Corporal now…"

"Corporal? You were in the military?"

"I served four years as an engineer in the Marines, fought in the campaign to liberate Alaska from the Chinese, and got out as a Lance Corporal."

"That would explain your choice of clothes, The Man Out of Time. So you've seen the Commonwealth and Diamond City, how does it compare to your old life?"

"It reminds me of Anchorage too much, I thought I was done with that life after I got out. But seeing everyone out here, surviving, trying to rebuild the world. Gives me hope for the future."

"Sorry if it brings up bad memory's, but what you said is inspiring. We're definitely quoting that. Now, the big question. You came all this way looking for someone. Who is it?"

"I'm looking for my son, Shaun. He was kidnapped after my wife was murdered. He's just an infant."

"Blue, I'm so sorry. It breaks my heart that someone could tear apart a family like that, if the Institute took Nat, I don't know what I'd do…"

"Institute? Who are they?"

"That's the Commonwealths greatest mystery. No one knows who or what they are, but their handiwork is all over the place. They send synthetic people, Synths, to do their dirty work. Sometimes people get replaced by Synths, an agent no one would suspect. Not even a baby would be safe from them."

"Well, if this Institute has my son, then I'll find them and bring them down."

"Please do. Now for the last part of our interview, I'd like to do something different. I want you to make a statement to Diamond City directly. The threat of kidnapping is pretty much ignored in the Commonwealth, everyone pretends that it doesn't happen. What would you say to someone that's lost a loved one, but might be too scared or numbed to the world to do anything?"

"There's this quote I read somewhere, can't remember who said it but it went like this. _"For those I love I will do great and terrible things."_ To me that means do what you have to, to protect your loved ones, even if that means doing things you aren't comfortable with. Also when life knocks you down, calmly get back up, smile, and say, you hit like a bitch. In all seriousness though, don't give up hope. Have hope that you'll see them again, or that at least you'll know the truth."

"A strong note to end on, Blue. Thanks, that's everything. It'll take some time to put this together, but I think your story is going to give Diamond City something to talk about."

"Glad I could help again Piper, and thanks for doing this for me."

"Hey you helped me more than once today and you didn't even know me, it's the least I could do. So if you're wanting to go after Nick in the morning, you're welcome to stay the night on the couch if you'd like."

"Sure, thanks."

"No problem, I'll be upstairs if you need anything."

"Cool, you have a goodnight." Ryan told her as Piper headed upstairs for the night. Ryan then laid down on the couch and called Dogmeat over to him. "Looks like we made another friend boy." He said to the dog, who barked happily in response. "Alright get some sleep boy, we got an early day tomorrow." Ryan laid his head back and placed his hat over his eyes before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

When Piper came down in the morning she saw that Blue and Dogmeat were already up and she could smell something cooking in the kitchen. Blue was seated at her table loading his magazines with bullets and placing them in the pouches on his belt. Piper walked over to him and cleared her throat to get his attention.

"Oh, hey. Morning Piper, just getting ready for the day."

"I can see that, you been up long?"

"Only about an hour or so, I hope you don't mind but I went ahead and started breakfast."

"Naw, it smells good though. Is Nat up?"

"Haven't seen her, but food should be ready soon if you want to wake her up."

"Yeah, I'll do that." Piper walked over to Nat's room to find her sister was still asleep. She quietly knelt down and shook her shoulder. "Nat wake up, breakfast is ready." She whispered as Nat slowly woke up.

"Alright, I'm up." Piper waited for Nat to fully wake up before leading her to the kitchen. She saw that while she was getting Nat, Blue had removed his weapons from the table and stacked them in a corner by the door.

"Nat, this is Blue, the one I told you about yesterday."

"How's it going kid? I'm Ryan." Blue introduced himself as he set down three plates of food for them to eat.

"I'm fine, my sister talked about you a lot yesterday you know? Guess she was right when she said you were handsome." Nat told him, making her older sister glare at her.

"Did not! Don't listen to her!" Piper stuttered.

"Hey, don't worry about it. Nat you're lucky to have a sister as cool as yours, and I think she's quite beautiful." Blue said making Piper blush. "There, don't sweat it now we're both evenly embarrassed."

"Right, let's just sit down and eat, shall we?" Piper said quickly changing the subject, taking her seat at the table and helping herself to the food blue had cooked. Nat and Blue shortly followed suit and begun eating. "So, Blue what's the plan?" Piper asked.

"Glad you asked. Valentine went to investigate a runaway daughter and that led him to a group calling themselves the Triggermen. Now they're holed up in an old vault built into one of the city's subways, so expect close quarters fighting. Valentine's notes say that the Triggermen are armed with submachineguns, shotguns, and pistols; not a big threat if we had body armor, but since we don't… well just stick to cover and follow my lead. Hopefully we can find Valentine and get out in one piece."

"Only an army to go through huh?"

"Hey, I've fought through worse in Anchorage. This will be a walk in the park…"


	3. Unlikely Valentine

Moving through the destroyed city presented no end of dangers for Ryan, Piper, and Dogmeat. They had been attacked by raiders and super mutants several times on their way to the subway terminal, and Ryan felt himself becoming fatigued due to having to keep his M4 up and moving throughout the trip.

"Blue if you need a break just tell me and we can switch weapons." Piper told him once they reached the subway and saw Ryan let his weapon dangle from its sling.

Ryan grabbed his weapon once again and looked at her. "I'm fine, just haven't had to hold a weapon up for that long since Anchorage. I appreciate though."

The three descended into the subway where they snuck up on a small group of Triggermen. Ryan crept along the wall until he reached the corner, where he quickly peeked out with his carbine and fired two three-round bursts into the thugs dropping them instantly. The remaining Triggermen were alerted to their presence, but Piper quickly fired several rounds from her pistol at them before they could raise their Thompson's. Ryan walked over to their corpses and fired a single round into the head of a thug that had survived and was reaching for his weapon.

Ryan picked up the Thompson and examined it. "Here you should take this, packs a little more punch than that ten mil." Ryan said handing the antique weapon and ammo to Piper.

"You give automatic weapons to all your lady friends Blue?" Piper joked.

"Nope, just you." Ryan joked back. Dogmeat barked to get the pairs attention and directed them to a stairwell that led deeper into the metro.

Piper gestured for Ryan to take point down the stairs. "After you Blue."

Ryan led the group down the stairs and crouched about halfway down, halting the others. "Multiple hostiles ahead, cover just below us. Move on my shot." Ryan whispered as he lined the chevron in his sight up with the back of the Triggerman that was supposed to be guarding the stairs. Piper held her breath in anticipation of the shot for what felt like forever, but soon the room echoed with the M4's report as the Triggerman's brains were blown out and the three rushed to the nearest cover just as the room exploded with gunfire. "Piper go loud!" Ryan yelled over the gunfire as he fired hammer pairs at the Triggermen closest to them while Dogmeat guarded their rear flank. Piper brought her Thompson up and sprayed rounds across the room to keep the Triggermen behind cover as Ryan left their position to advance. Once Piper's magazine ran dry she watched in awe as Ryan cleared out the platform across from them, his shots were always precise and on target, his weapon had become an extension of himself as he used it shoot and beat down all that got in his way. "Room clear, Regroup!" He yelled as he reloaded his weapon.

"Holy shit Blue that was amazing! I've never seen anyone fight like that before." Piper exclaimed, admiring Ryan's handiwork.

"Not too bad yourself, once we're out of here I can show you a few tricks if you'd like. Now come on, anyone further down the tunnel would have heard those shots we need to move." The three moved further down the metro and had another run in with Triggermen guarding the entrance to the vault. They dealt with them just as they had before, Piper suppressed them long enough for Ryan and Dogmeat to advance through their position.

Fighting through the vault however presented its own challenges. While the metro was open and provided room to maneuver, the vault was filled with cramped corridors and large rooms with little in the means of cover. Still the three managed to fight their way through the vault and reached the atrium where they believed Nick was being held. Fortunately there was only a single guard and he was busy taunting his prisoner instead of paying attention. Ryan halted Piper and Dogmeat before slinging his carbine and grabbing an aluminum baseball bat that was leaning against the wall. Ryan slowly crept up to the guard and once he was in range swung the bat at the back of his knees bringing the man to the ground. Ryan twirled the bat in his hand before swinging it single handedly at the man's head, breaking his neck and killing him in the process. Ryan dropped the bat and motioned for his companions to join him while he looked into the room.

He could see that there was a person in the room but the lighting inside was terrible and he couldn't make out any of the persons details. "Piper get this door open." Ryan ordered as he held his weapon at the ready. Once Piper opened the door Ryan walked into the room with his weapon trained on the man. "Step into the light and ID yourself." Ryan commanded.

The figure stepped forward with his hands raised. "Easy their Marine, names Nick Valentine and I'm no threat to you." Ryan lowered his weapon and took a second glance at Valentine, observing the exposed robotics and plastic looking skin.

"What are you?" Ryan asked unsure about how to proceed.

"What, you've never seen a Synth before?" Nick asked as Ryan fiddled with his weapon.

Piper chose this moment to intervene by forcing Ryan's muzzle down. "Blue this is Nick Valentine, I know he's a Synth but you can trust him."

"Aw, miss Wright. So good to see you, I take it this one's just out of the vault?"

"Yeah, you could say that. We're rescuing you 'cause he needs your help. Go on Blue tell him."

Ryan shook himself out of his paranoia and flicked his weapons safety on. "Right, well if Piper trusts you then I guess I can to. My son's been taken and I need your help finding him."

"Hmm, we should talk about this back at my office where we're not surrounded by dangerous people."

"Right, let's go." Ryan handed Nick the guards 10mm and allowed Nick to lead them back to the vault's entrance. Along the way Nick explained the events that had led to his capture and warned the trio that they would likely run into the gang's boss, Skinny Malone. "So let me get this straight, the girl, Darla, you were looking for actually ran away to be with the leader of this gang who is fat despite his name? Guess some things never change." Ryan commented after hearing Nick's tale. The four reached the room adjacent to the vault door, but Nick stopped them from going into the next room.

"Wait I hear fat footsteps outside, I think we'll have a confrontation on our hands." Nick informed them. Ryan motioned for Nick to open the door as he and Piper kept their weapons at the ready. The door opened and the four where greeted by Skinny Malone, Darla and two thugs.

"Nick, how could you do this to me after all we've been through together?" Malone asked.

"Well, you locking me up certainly didn't win you any of my favor for one." Nick replied.

"Skinny, we should just kill them now while we have the chance." Darla told the mob boss.

"Hold on Darla, me and Nick go back. Killing him in cold blood isn't the proper way. But you two, I don't know you two and you're the ones that have been the cause of this mess."

"Hold on now, we need Nicks help and you're boys weren't exactly welcoming." Ryan said.

"Just kill them and the dog and capture Nick again Skinny." Whined Darla.

"Dude, how do you live with that, doesn't she get annoying?" Ryan asked Malone.

"Excuse you!?" Darla exclaimed.

"What, you're kind of a bitch you know that right? Malone she's only with you for your power and money. If you ask me all this is her fault, I mean if she wasn't here then Nick wouldn't have come looking for her and we wouldn't have even shown up."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying you've got two choices. One: I kill all of you and walk out of here with my friends, or two: You drop Susie Rotten Crotch there, and we all go our separate ways and never see each other again. What'll it be?"

Malone took a minute to think about what this stranger had said. He and his friend had easily taken down a lot of his men and believed that the man only saw him as a minor annoyance instead of a threat, and what he said about Darla was something he had forced himself to ignore. As much as he wanted to kill the stranger, it wasn't worth the risking his own life. "You know, you're right. Darla it's been real but you gotta go."

"What! You're dumping me because of what some asshole said!?"

"That's exactly what I'm doing, now go!" Darla glared at Malone before flipping off Ryan, who was all too eager to return the gesture. "As for you four, you get you're asses out of here, and don't you ever come back, you hear me!"

"Loud and clear, maybe next time hire guys who can actually shoot, just saying." Ryan commented as he led his friends out of the vault and towards an old service ladder leading to the surface.

"Well that was quiet the rescue you three pulled of, you have my thanks. How did you know I was there?" Nick asked once they reached the surface.

"You're secretary, she pointed us in the right direction." Ryan answered.

"I'll be sure to thank her as well, look me up once you're back in Diamond City and we can talk about finding you're boy."

"Will do, stay safe Valentine." Nick nodded his head and left the three for Diamond City. Once Nick was gone Ryan sighed and sat down against the wall and called Dogmeat to join him. "Fuck, I forgot how tiring all this could be."

"You good Blue?" Piper asked concerned.

"I'm only twenty-one but I feel like I'm forty, the human body isn't designed to handle all the stress the Marine Corps puts you through." He answered as he rubbed Dogmeat's belly.

"Wait, you're only twenty-one?"

"Well two hundred and thirty-one if you want to count all those years in cryo. Why?"

"Geez, you're making me feel old, I'm twenty-five."

"Ha! You're old as fuck!" Ryan laughed as Piper glared at him. "I'm just joking with you Piper, you look beautiful…" Ryan said but quickly looked away embarrassed at that accidental slip up.

"That's the second time you've said that Blue, do you really think that?" She asked seriously.

"Piper, you know you're beautiful, I'm just pointing out the obvious here."

"Well, thanks for the complement then. By the way, thank you for not killing those guys back there, though maybe you could try to be less of an asshole when trying to persuade people, flashing your gun can only get you so far."

"I hear you, but you gotta admit she was kind of a bitch."

"Oh, yeah without a doubt, and Susie Rotten Crotch, really?"

"I heard it in an old movie and saw the opportunity to use it, come on it was funny."

"You have a strange sense of humor. Now come on we still gotta get back to Diamond City." Piper offered her hand to Ryan, who took it and allowed her to help him up.

The three then ventured back into the war torn city and arrived in Diamond City where they bought dinner and decided to wait until morning to visit Nick at his office. Back at Piper's house, the reporter bid the Marine goodnight as he passed out on her couch shortly after dinner, exhaustion from the day's adventure claiming him. Piper too felt the urge to rest and so she made sure Nat was asleep and then headed off to bed herself, leaving Dogmeat to guard the house.

Unbeknownst to Piper, Ryan was still awake and as he heard her go upstairs to her room, he let the feelings of grief he had bottled up for the past few years free, and cried the tears he should have when his squad died, when he saw that Nora had been murdered, and Shaun taken. Too many people that he cared about had been taken from him in one way or another. Once he was finished he wiped his eyes and vowed that he would not let the same fate befall his new friends, even if it meant giving himself to do so…


	4. Life Stories

Ryan and Piper set out to see Nick at his office the next day, but what should have been a short walk turned into Ryan helping some of the town's residents with various tasks such as helping the scientists at the research center gather materials, helping repaint "The Wall", and helping the radio DJ find some confidence. Piper was touched that Ryan would go out of his way to help the people in her city even when he had his own problems to deal with. Still she was happy to help Ryan in completing his tasks.

The two had just gotten back to Diamond City from helping Travis Miles, the local DJ, rescue his friend Vadim from a small group of raiders out in the ruins and had decided to stop at the noodle shop for dinner and were listening to the radio on Ryan's Pip-boy.

"Your always on your best behavior aren't you Blue?" Piper asked as she finished her noodles.

"I guess so? I hadn't really noticed." He replied, somewhat confused.

"So this is you not even trying, huh? I just wanted you to know I appreciate everything you've done today. Too few folks can be bothered. Though, in my experience, if you want to do real good, playing nice only gets ya so far. I mean, look at Diamond City, a place I've been trying to warn of real danger. But every issue I publish, all I hear is: Oh, Piper, why don't you ever publish anything happy? Piper, why can't you write something nice for a change? It's enough to make me wanna hang up my hat some days."

"Most people are content to believe in a comforting lie than the truth. Only thing that people like us, those who see the world for what it really is, can do is try to warn them of the truth, like how you try to warn them about the Institute."

"Heh, no kidding. Sure it can be scary knowing what's really out there. A night doesn't go by I'm not afraid that some Institute drone will decide today's the day to pay 'ol Piper and family a visit. But it's worth it because I know the truth, that's what protects us."

"You're afraid? Could've fooled me."

"I'm pushy not crazy. Honestly, these days, I'm more scared for my sister. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to her. But I'm not the only one with something to lose. That's why people deserve to know what's out there, good or bad."

"You don't have to convince me of that, knowing what you're facing is how you protect the one's you care about."

"Exactly. Like you said, most people prefer a comforting lie. Not me. I've seen firsthand what the truth can do. My sister and I, we grew up way out in the Commonwealth. Tiny little settlement. Our Dad, he was in the local militia. Well one day, Dad turns up dead. His Captain, asshole named Mayburn. Claimed raiders must've gotten him on watch. Well, I didn't buy it. I started making inquiries. Turns out the Captain, he'd sold out. Thought he wasn't getting paid enough to babysit the town. He was going to leave the gates open one night, let a group of raiders sack the place and take a cut of the profits. Dad found out and was going to turn him in, but Mayburn got to him first and I wasn't about to let him get away with murder. The mayor wouldn't listen to me so I papered the whole town. Got his attention then and the town threw Mayburn out and were dug-in when the group of raiders showed."

"Fuck, that's… that's some fucked up shit, but what you did to make things right, that's amazing. What happened to you guys afterwards?"

"We made due. Sis was still pretty young at the time and mom was…out of the picture, so we got by on the kindness of others for a while. Eventually I saved up enough to book us both passage with a caravan and then we moved on up to the big city. Called it home ever since."

"I'm sorry about what happened to your Dad, really, but you did what you had to to keep you and your sister alive. It's impressive to say the least."

"Thanks, Blue. It was hard after he was gone, but knowing that he died doing right, that's always made it easier. But, hey, I-I'm sorry if I've been rambling. I just get fired up sometimes. It's just nice to talk to someone who, who actually seems to get it, ya know?"

"Yeah, I know. Seems like the only people I could talk to after Anchorage were other Marines, my wife, she just didn't understand because she hadn't seen the war firsthand. You and I, despite only knowing each other for a short time, we've seen the world together and can relate to each other easier that way."

"You've mentioned you fought in Anchorage before, what was it like if you don't mind me asking?" Piper asked nervously, afraid that Ryan would be upset at her prying.

"Hey, you told me your life story, only seems fair I return the favor. I enlisted in the Marine Corps when I was seven-teen and married my wife, Nora, after I graduated Boot Camp. Two years later I was stationed on the west coast and assigned to First Combat Engineer Battalion when the Chinese invaded Anchorage, Alaska. When the news hit us every branch of the military was fighting to be the first to go in and drive them out, naturally they chose the Marines and my unit was chosen to go in with the first wave to clear the way for our infantry. A week later I was gunning an up-armored Humvee driving across the Alaskan border. Those first few weeks were crazy, we set up a FOB near the Alaskan-Canadian border and I was sent out on engineer recon patrols, scouting the Chinese supply routes and defenses, looking for ways to breach their defenses and allow the grunts to do their thing. The opening weeks were some of the best times of my life, I was out there doing my part to drive out the invaders and the Marines in my squad, they became my brothers. We joked about everything and talked shit about our situation all day. I felt closer to them than I did my own family and we'd do anything for each other."

Piper saw Ryan sadden after mentioning his squad. "Along with all the awesome things we did, there were multiple things I wish I hadn't seen over there. When we finally pushed into Anchorage three months later, well, the Chinese had taken the city by surprise and they…killed all the Americans they could. The Soldiers in the National Guard had been hung from the rooftops and the civilians left to rot in the street, men, women, children, all murdered and left to greet us at the cities entrance."

"God Blue, I couldn't imagine how horrifying that would be. What did you do next?"

"Well, when our command found out what they had done they threw all our ROE's out the window, they said _"You boys do what you have to to drive those bastards out of our city."_ We wiped out every enemy patrol we came across, just as they did to us. Sometimes they would surrender and you want to know what we said? We said fuck them and we shot them anyways, just as they had done to our people."

Ryan clenched his fists as said that and Piper could see the hatred for the invaders in his eyes. "Blue, I can't say that I would do the same thing, but I can understand why you would do that…"

"War is hell, Piper. At the time I thought we were justified in what we did, but after what happened to my squad… it made me realize just how much of our humanity we had given up in the fighting. I tried to give up my hatred and eventually I was able to but that was long after I was rotated back to California."

"What… what happened to your squad?"

"I'm sorry, I'm don't feel like talking about that right now. Brings up to many memories I'd like to forget…"

"Ok, forget I asked. What'd you do when you got back from Anchorage?"

"When I got back I spent my time training new combat engineers, prep them to continue the fight in Alaska. Just before I got out, Nora and I had Shaun. Holding him for the first time, made all the shit that I'd gone through over there worth it, I thought I had given my son a safer world to live in. Guess I was wrong…"

"Hey, we'll find your son Blue. Thank you for telling me all this, and I hope that we can have more talks like this in the future."

"Definitely Piper, it feels good to talk about these things with someone who understands. Now we've wasted enough time talking, I think it's time we went and visited Valentine."

"Then lead on Blue." The two then got up and headed towards Valentine's office to get some answers.


	5. Reunions

After speaking with Valentine the detective concluded that a man named Kellogg had most likely taken Ryan's son. Fortunately for them Kellogg had purchased property in Diamond City and was seen with a child at the time. Ryan was a bit upset to learn that his son had possibly aged a little without him, but nevertheless he was still eager to poke around the house.

They let Valentine lead them to Kellogg's house and waited for him to try and open the lock securing the door, though it seemed the lock was too complicated for the synth to crack. "Damn, locks tougher than it looks. See if you can do anything with it Ryan."

Ryan giggled the lock a little and thought for a moment. "Wait here, I got an idea." Ryan told them as he headed down to the market. He returned a short time later carrying some items.

"And what's that supposed to do?" Piper asked, curiously eyeing what looked like a few feet of rope and a small metal cylinder.

"This my dear, is Det-Cord, time-fuse, a fuse igniter, and a blasting cap. Now step back and let the engineer work." Ryan used the explosive components to construct a doughnut charge and looped the Det-cord over the door handle and pulled the pin on the igniter before backing himself and the others a few feet from the door. "Fire in the hole."

The charge exploded with a "BANG" as the lock was blown out and the door opened.

"Wow, yeah that'll do it." Piper commented as she observed the door before following the others inside. The house itself was relatively small on the inside, but was unoccupied. Ryan kept watch on the door in case security came wandering by after the explosion while Piper and Valentine searched the house for clues. Piper searched through the drawers of the desk in the house when she noticed a switch sticking out from the under the desk. "What do we have here?" pressing the switch revealed a hidden opening in one of the walls and Ryan quickly swept his M4's barrel across the room in case anyone was hiding inside.

Valentine walked into the hidden room and picked up some items of interest. "Here, see if Dogmeat can get a sent off of these." He said as he handed the items to him.

Ryan kneeled down and held out the items for Dogmeat to smell. "Here boy, take a whiff." Dogmeat smelled the items and began to follow the sent outside of the house. "Looks like he got something, let's go."

"You and Piper go on ahead, I'll hang back in case Kellogg decides to comeback while you're out."

"Sounds like a plan, thanks for the help Valentine."

"Don't thank me until you come back with your son. Good luck out there, both of you."

* * *

Ryan and Piper followed Dogmeat across the Commonwealth for hours and Piper could feel her feet rapidly tiring and that Dogmeat wasn't faring much better.

"Blue, can we stop and rest for a while. Dogmeat and I are about done, and it'll be dark soon."

"We can't stop now Piper, my boy's out there somewhere with that maniac!"

"I know that Blue, but you'll be in no condition to fight if you tire yourself out now. We need to stop for the night."

"Fuck, Fine!" Ryan exclaimed before he quickly walked to an old house and cleared it out. "You want to rest, there's a bed upstairs. I'll wake you in the morning." He said angrily as he moved a chair in front of a window before sitting down and slamming his M4's buttstock on the floor."

"Blue, I'm only looking out for y…" Piper started before she was suddenly cutoff.

"Go to bed Piper, I will wake you in the morning." Ryan said sternly. Piper looked down sadly and nodded her head before running upstairs with Dogmeat. Piper let Dogmeat into the room before shutting the door and lying face down on the bed. She could understand why Ryan was so upset, she would be to where she in his position, but it still hurt that he had snapped at her like that. Dogmeat jumped on the bed next to her and whined at her as he nuzzled her face with his snout. "I'm ok boy, really." Piper lied, unsure if it was to comfort the dog or herself. She didn't ponder it to long before sleep claimed her.

When Piper came downstairs in the morning she found Ryan passed out in his chair with his carbine in his arms. Piper chuckled to herself before shacking the man awake.

"Huh, what's going on?" he mumbled as he shook himself awake.

"It's morning Blue, come get some food." Ryan followed Piper to the kitchen where she handed him some food.

"Thanks." The two ate in silence for a while until Ryan finished eating and looked at Piper. "Piper, about last night…"

"Blue, it's alright. It hurt yeah, but I understand why you were upset."

"No, it's not ok. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, you were just trying to help me. I'm sorry, and it won't happen again I promise."

"Apology accepted, now come on we've got your son to save."

* * *

Dogmeat led the pair to Fort Hagen after they left their overnight shelter. The outside was defended by automated turrets but they were easily dispatched. Ryan and Piper let Dogmeat rest outside as they climbed some scaffolding to the roof and found an entrance to the Fort.

"Hold on a sec Piper." Ryan said, blocking the entrance to the Fort.

"Something on your mind Blue?"

"Yeah, I wanted to tell you beforehand that you can wait out here if you'd like."

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Piper, I know how you feel about unnecessary violence, but I'm warning you, I am going to kill everything inside this building that gets between me and my son. So I'm giving you the option to spare yourself from seeing that."

"Blue, we've come this far together, I want to see this through so don't worry about me."

"You're a good friend Piper, let's do this." Ryan then yanked the door open and rushed inside with Piper behind him. Ryan spotted a person inside the first room and fired a hammer pair into his chest, but was surprised when the rounds didn't drop him. The figure then turned and raised its own weapon and fired at the two as it took cover. Piper fired her pistol at the figure until her magazine ran dry and the slide locked back, as she reloaded Ryan switched his weapon from semi-automatic to three-round burst and broke his cover, firing at the man's head. The rounds impacted the figures head and dropped him to the ground. Ryan kept his weapon trained on the figures body as he approached to make sure it was dead.

"What the hell was that?" He asked Piper as he checked the body.

"That's a synth, shit I knew the Institute was involved in this!"

"We need to hurry, come on!" Ryan exclaimed as he reloaded his weapon. The rest of the Fort was crawling with synths and it took the majority of Ryan and Pipers ammo to drop the machines. Fortunately, being in a Fort 5.56x45mm and 10x25mm ammo was easy to come by. After what seemed like hours of fighting the two reached the basement and were met by more synths and Kellogg's voice.

"So, you've finally gotten free of that Icebox have you? I'm impressed that you were able to track me down but your journey ends here."

Hearing the man that killed his wife and stole his son taunt him only made Ryan push harder. As he fought the synths he learned where they were most vulnerable and he and Piper were able to take them down quicker with fewer bullets. Finally they reached what must have been Kellogg's quarters and where faced with a locked door. Ryan was about to shoot the lock off before Kellogg's voice spoke over the intercom again.

"Okay, you made it. I'm just up ahead. My synths are standing down. Let's talk." Once Kellogg finished talking the door unlocked itself for Ryan.

"Blue you know this is a trap right?"

"Yeah, just follow my lead."

The two walked past the door and where greeted by Kellogg and two synth bodyguards. Kellogg wasn't visibly armed but Ryan had no doubt that the man had his revolver on him somewhere so he kept his M4 trained on the man's chest as he approached.

"And there he is. The most resilent man in the Commonwealth. Funny, I thought I had that honor. You came a long way, let's hear it."

"Where. Is. My. Son"

"Ha! Pal, I'm just a puppet like you, my stage is a little bigger is all. Shaun's a good kid. A bit older than you expected, am I right? But he's doing great. Only… he's not here. He's with the people pulling the strings."

"Goddamn it you motherfucker take me to him!"

"What's the cliché? _"So close but yet so far away?"_ That's Shaun. But don't worry. You'll die knowing he's safe, and happy. A bit older than you expected, but ah well. At least he has a loving home. The Institute."

"You're sorely mistaken if you think they'll stop me from finding him, I promise you that."

"God, you're persistent. I give you credit. It's the way a father should act. The way I'd be acting if I were in your place, I like to think. Even if it is pointless. But I think we've been talking long enough, we both know how this has to end…"

Before Kellogg could finish his sentence Ryan pulled the trigger and sent a round through the man's throat, sending him crashing to the ground gasping for air as he watched Ryan and Piper drop his two synths. Kellogg looked wide-eyed at Ryan as he stepped over him and placed his carbines barrel against his forehead while Piper watched, a blank expression on her face.

"This is for my wife you piece of shit." Ryan declared as he fired a three-round burst into Kellogg's head, splattering bone and brain matter across the floor. Ryan stepped away from Kellogg's body and slumped against one of the large computers in the room and sat his carbine next to him.

Piper walked over to him, worry written all over her face. "You good Blue?"

"Yeah, let's get outta here."

Piper led Ryan through the Fort back to the rooftop entrance. Once outside they were greeted by the sight of a large airship flanked by vertibirds flying overhead.

" **People of the Commonwealth, do not be alarmed. We come with peaceful intentions. We are the Brotherhood of Steel."**

"Wow! Do you see that Blue!?" Piper exclaimed as she marveled at the giant airship.

"Yeah I do. Whoever these guys are they mean business. We can worry about them later, let's get back to Diamond City."

"Right behind ya Blue."

The two collected Dogmeat and set out to return to Diamond City, leaving the Fort with more questions than answers.


	6. Moving Forward

"So Kellogg got his brains blown out huh?" Upon returning to Diamond City Ryan and Piper found Valentine and told him what happened at Fort Hagen.

"That's right Valentine, Didn't even give him a chance to draw his weapon." Ryan confirmed.

"But what about Shaun? Did you find where he was?"

"Kellogg said that the Institute has him, but we don't know how to reach them."

"Well nobody does really."

"Kellogg did, too bad we didn't question him more before blowing his brains out." Piper commented.

"Gets his brains blown out. Hmm maybe. Theres a person I know in Goodneighbor, Doctor Amari, she knows how to look into people's minds, see their memories. If we can get Kellogg's brain, or what's left of it, to her…"  
"Oh god, Nick you can't be serious!?" Piper exclaimed.

"Hey his brains aren't going anywhere, we can scoop them up later." Ryan told her. "Right now I'm going to the bar and getting as fucked up as I can, who's with me?" Ryan declared, putting an end to the discussion.

"Well, I'll hate myself in the morning but god knows I could use a few drinks." Agreed Piper.

"Hell yeah, Nick you in?"

"I can't get drunk, being a synth and all, but who am I to turn down good company."

"Then let's fucking do this, to the bar!"

* * *

Ryan woke up on the floor of the Dug Out Inn surrounded by empty beer bottles and with a massive headache. "Ow, holy fuck. What happened?"

"Finally awake huh? Guess the old stories about you Marines and alcohol are true." Valentine said.

"Oh hey man, whats up? These all mine?" Ryan asked, looking at the bottles around him. Valentine nodded an affirmative at him. "Fuck me. Where's Piper?" Ryan asked as he rubbed his forehead

"That's her over there." Answered Valentine as he pointed towards the pool table which Piper was asleep on in a pile of empty bottles.

"Oh shit, is she alive?"

"She's fine, just hungover like you."

"What happened Nick?"

"Well you and Piper engaged in a drinking contest, which you won by downing a whole bottle of moonshine after yelling _"This one's for Chesty!"_

"Oh yeah. I somewhat remember that. Well, wake me up when she's up ok?" Said Ryan before passing out again.

"Sweet dreams." Chuckled Nick.

* * *

Some hours later Ryan and Piper were wandering around Diamond City. "So, what's the plan Blue? Go and get Kellogg's brain then head to Goodneighbor?"

"Yeah I guess, but after we get the brain I want to head back home for a while, got something I need to take care of."

"Sure, let's go."

Ryan and Piper trekked back to Fort Hagen and gathered what they could of Kellogg's brain and they were both surprised to find cybernetic parts mixed in with his brain matter.

"Uh, gross!" Piper whined as Ryan stuffed the brain matter into a container and pocketed it. With the brain recovered they journeyed to Goodneighbor, where they were introduced to the town's mayor, Hancock. Ryan and Hancock hit it off pretty well, after Piper explained to Ryan what a ghoul was, and the ghoul welcomed the two into his town with open arms. The two then met with Valentine at the Memory Den where he introduced them to Dr. Amari.

"This is all mush!" the doctor exclaimed when Ryan presented Kellogg's brains to her.

"Well, there is this thing." He said, holding up the implant.

"Wait, that looks familiar and intact. It'll take some time but perhaps we could work with it."

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"I'm not certain, but a few weeks at least. Nick and I can will work on it while you two continue to learn whatever you can about the Institute."

"Thanks Doc."

Ryan and Piper then left the two to work on Kellogg's brains. Before heading back to Sanctuary the two stopped at The Third Rail to get some drinks, where they met a merc named Macready, who was in some trouble with his former employers. After talking with Macready, Ryan decided that having an extra gun wouldn't be bad and sent him to Sanctuary ahead of himself and Piper to help Preston with defending the town and to await further orders. Afterwards they stayed the night at the local hotel and set out for Sanctuary in the morning.

As they approached Sanctuary Piper stopped to take in the sight of the pre-war neighborhood. "Wow, you used to live here?"

"Yeah, after I got out of the Marines, Nora and I moved here from California to raise Shaun. When the bombs fell we took shelter in the vault just up that hill and, well, you know the rest."

Preston, Macready, and Codsworth were waiting for them across the bridge.

"Bout time you guys showed up, I was wondering if you forgot about me." Macready said.

"What's up man. Hey Preston, how's the neighborhood?"

"Your old neighborhood is perfect, it's good to see you again. Any luck finding your boy?"

"Unfortunately no, we learned the Institute's got him."

"Fuck, wish I could help you there man."

"Don't worry about it, our guy Valentine's on the case. Codsworth come with me, I got something I need you to do."

"Right away sir!"

Ryan led Codsworth to the trail leading to vault 111 and made sure they were alone.

"Codsworth, we're still looking for Shaun, but I came back because I need to put Nora to rest properly, I can't just leave her down in that vault."

"I understand sir, what would you have me do?"

"I want you to build her casket and dig her burial site up on the hill, so she can watch over these people."

"Of course sir, I'll get started right away."

Ryan and Codsworth then walked up the hill towards the vault. Codsworth went about using the nearby materials to complete his tasks as Ryan headed towards the elevator controls, unaware that Piper had followed him.

"Hey Blue, what're you up to?" She asked, startling Ryan.

"Piper, you scared me! I'm…I'm going to put my wife to rest."

"Oh, I didn't realize. I'll leave you be."

"No, stay please. I…I don't want to do this on my own."

"Alright Blue, I'm here for you."

The two stepped onto the elevator and where lowered into the vault. Ryan told Piper everything he knew about the place until he reached the cryo chamber. Ryan stopped in front of Nora's pod and stared in at her.

"Oh, is that her? Are you going to be alright Blue?"

Ryan took a moment to calm himself. "Yeah, I'm…I'm fine." He said as he keyed the pods thawing process. The pod opened with a hiss and Ryan caught Nora's body as it fell out of the pod. Ryan stayed lying on the floor holding his wife's body for a while, bringing a tear to Piper's eye. She could she how hard he was trying not to break down in front of her and she placed her hand on his shoulder to comfort him. Ryan stood from the floor and carried his wife out of the vault with Piper close behind. Codsworth had completed his tasks and the sun was falling as the two emerged from the vault and Ryan gently placed his wife into the casket and removed her wedding ring and his own and placed them on the same chain that held his dog tags around his neck. Afterwards Ryan said a few words to his wife.

"Nora, I've loved you since the day we met and I can't tell you how much your love meant to me. I thought for sure you would leave me when I left for the Marines, but you waited for me and I knew then that I had found the one. The day we were married was one of the happiest days of my life, second to when our son was born. When I left for war your letters to me kept me sane and gave me the strength to survive and come home to you, even when everyone around me was dying. After the war I was in a dark place, but you were always there for me, even if you didn't understand you still made the effort to help me through it and eventually we did. Moving out here after I got out was the best decision we made, the months we spent together as a family, me, you, and Shaun, where amazing no matter how short it was. This world I'm in now, it's dangerous and our son is out there somewhere in it. While you can't be with me here to help me find him, I know that you're watching out for him somewhere, wherever that may be. Rest easy Nora, I'll get our son back and keep him safe, you have my word."

Once the burial was complete Ryan sank to his knees and let the tears fall from his eyes. Piper, who had also begun to cry brought Ryan into an embrace to comfort him.

"Thank you for being here Piper, I can't tell you how much I appreciate everything you've done for me since we've met."

"Don't mention it Blue, I'm here for you. Come on let's get you home." Piper helped Ryan stand and walked him down the hill into Sanctuary.

She walked him into his home and set him down in his bed and called Dogmeat to stay with him. Piper made sure that Ryan was asleep before getting up and leaving the room. Piper walked into the room across from Ryan's and looked at the crib inside. _"This must have been Shaun's room."_ Piper thought to herself as she paced around the room looking at the various things Ryan and Nora had bought for their baby. As Piper was leaving the room her foot hit something on the floor, looking down she saw that it was a stuffed teddy bear, perfectly preserved. Piper picked up the toy and imagined a baby Shaun hugging it as he slept in his crib and the thought brought a smile to her face. She walked back into Ryan's room and found him still asleep on the bed. Taking a scrap of paper from her notebook she wrote: " _Found this in Shaun's room, thought you might want to have it as a memento –Piper."_ Tying the note to the bear she set it down next to Ryan and whispered, "Goodnight Blue." Over her shoulder before leaving again.


	7. The Castle

Piper woke to find Ryan sitting at the counter eating, the bear she had found for him seated on the counter next to him. Upon hearing her stir Ryan turned to greet her.

"Bout time you woke up."

"Morning Blue, sleep well?"

Ryan shrugged his shoulders. "Somewhat, care to join me?" He asked, pulling out the chair next to him. Piper got up from the couch and sat down next to Ryan as he poured her a bowl of Sugar Bombs. Piper thanked Ryan before gesturing to the bear next to him.

"I see you've got that bear I found last night."

"Yeah, thanks for bringing him to me, Mr. Bear was one of Shaun's favorite toys. I was in such a rush to get started that I forgot to grab keepsakes."

"Hey that's what friends are for, right?"

"Speaking of that, I have something for you. Wait here." Ryan got up from the counter and walked into his bedroom, Piper could hear him going through things until he reappeared in the hallway carrying a small wooden box in his arms. Ryan returned to the living room and placed the box down in front of Piper. The box had an Eagle, Globe, and Anchor with the words _Semper Fidelis_ carved onto the lid and Piper recognized the symbol as the same one stitched onto Ryan's uniform. Upon opening the box, Piper found a tan colored pistol resembling an old Colt .45 semi-automatic and the letters _USMC_ were stamped onto the pistol's slide. Piper picked up the pistol and admired it in her hand.

"I noticed how you prefer pistols over other weapons, and seeing how we had to sell that Thompson we found I figured you could use something better than that old N99 you carry around. That's an M45A1, they became standard issue just before the Anchorage Campaign. This particular one was mine and it served me well over there, treat her right and she'll do the same for you."

"I appreciate it Blue, but I don't think I can accept such a gift, I mean don't you need it?" Piper asked, trying to hand the weapon back to Ryan.

Ryan pressed the weapon back into her hands insistently. "I'm just fine with my M4. Besides I wanted to show my appreciation for your friendship with something more than words."

"If you're sure, I'll take good care of it Blue." Piper told him as she removed her old N99 from its holster and placed the M45 in its place.

"I'm sure, now let's get a move on. Preston stopped by while you were out, wanted to talk about helping out some settlements."

"Ready whenever you are."

Ryan and Piper made their way from the counter towards the door and out into the neighborhood. Ryan turned around and took a last look at his old house and then glanced at the stuffed bear he held in his hand. "Don't worry Mr. Bear, we'll find Shaun together." He said to the bear before stuffing it in his cargo pocket.

* * *

 **One Month Later**

Ryan, Piper, MacCready, and Preston had worked for the better part of a month aiding settlements across the Commonwealth and gaining support for the Minutemen. It came as no surprise to Ryan that Preston would ask him to lead the Minutemen with his military background and combat experience he was the perfect choice, or so Preston had thought. What he didn't expect was for Ryan to initially decline the leadership position, stating that his job was to follow orders, not give them. It took some convincing but Piper was eventually able to get Ryan to lead the Minutemen after telling him how having a standing Army under his control would not only be beneficial to the Commonwealth but could also help in locating the Institute. The four had been gaining allies ever since.

After a month of aiding settlements the Minutemen had grown larger and needed a more secure base than Sanctuary. Preston told them about the Castle, the Minutemen's base of operations before they fell apart, and suggested they retake it for the Minutemen. Ryan's group met with Preston and a squad of Minutemen Soldiers and begun their attack on the mirelurks that had infested the Castle.

Ryan fired a final burst from his M4 into a mirelurk's face and watched the creature fall. There had been many of the creatures but his people had been able to kill them without taking casualties.

"MacCready, Piper search for supplies while Preston and I secure the Castle walls."

"On it boss." MacCready replied as he and Piper walked across the courtyard.

Ryan and Preston Walked to the upper levels of the Castle and watched the Minutemen Soldiers burn the mirelurk nests.

"Hard to believe that we were driven out by these things, we pushed them back so easily." Preston commented.

"Yeah no kidding but we have the Castle and that's all that matters."

As soon as Ryan finished talking a loud groan came from the bay. Ryan and Preston looked at each other and back to the bay. "What the hell was that?" Ryan asked as he and Preston readied their weapons.

"I don't know, but whatever it is, it doesn't sound good." Suddenly a giant mirelurk rose from the water with several normal mirelurks and headed towards the exposed portion of the wall.

"Not good, not good. Open fire!" Ryan yelled as he fired burst after burst into the monster. MacCready and Piper ran back to the courtyard after hearing the shooting start and found the mirelurk Queen and her servants climbing over the rubble into the Castle. The two saw Ryan and Preston fighting off mirelurks on the Castles wall and raced to join them while the Minutemen Soldiers focused their fire on the Queen.

"Blue what's the plan!?" Asked Piper once she and MacCready reached him and Preston.

"We need heavier firepower, rifles aren't doing shit!" He yelled back. MacCready looked over the Castle with his sniper rifle and spotted an old M2 .50 CAL mounted on the opposite side of the Castle.

"Boss, there's a heavy MG on the wall across from us!" He yelled at Ryan. Ryan saw the machine gun and nodded towards MacCready.

"Piper we're going to that MG, MacCready, Preston cover us while we move!" Ryan and Piper waited until MacCready and Preston began firing to sprint to the opposite wall and the MG. Piper looked at the gun and doubted the rust covered weapon would work.

"Blue this things covered in rust!" She told him as Ryan opened the guns feed tray cover and loaded a belt of ammo on the feed way.

"These things are more durable than you think, just spit on it, I bet it still works!" he exclaimed as he spat on the weapons trigger group. Piper groaned in disgust before she spat on the weapons charging lever. Ryan grabbed the lever and racked it back twice, satisfied when the weapon actually chambered a round to Piper's surprise. Turning the gun towards the fight Ryan saw the Minutemen being pushed back by mirelurks. Piper covered her ears as Ryan opened up with the .50 CAL, shredding the mirelurks that surrounded the Minutemen before turning the weapon on the Queen. The Queen roared in pain as her armor was penetrated by the .50 CAL's API rounds and she turned her attack on the offending weapon. Piper's eyes widened as the Queen's acid narrowly missed her and Ryan.

"We need to end this fast Blue!" She cried.

"I'm working on it!" He yelled back as he focused his fire on the Queen's face. Unknown to them the Queen had released a clutch of hatchlings that scurried towards the pair. Ryan stopped his firing when he heard Piper cry out in pain and turned to see her throw a hatchling off her back before shooting it with her M45.

"Piper take this!" He told her as he threw her his M4. Piper caught the carbine and flicked the safety off before shooting the remaining hatchlings. Once the hatchlings were dealt with Piper turned back to the Queen and sighted in on her face. Thinking quickly, Piper lined up the sights with what she guessed to be the Queen's eyes and pulled the trigger. The Queen roared in anger and spat acid in every direction once her sight was removed and the Minutemen were quick to take the advantage. With guns firing on her face from every direction the Queen gave out one final roar before toppling over after being struck in the face for a final time by Ryan's MG. The Minutemen cheered as the beast died and expressed their joy by firing at the beast's corpse.

"Holy shit, I can't believe we killed that thing!" Piper exclaimed as she handed Ryan back his Carbine.

"It's thanks to you blinding it that we gained the upper hand, we owe this victory to you!" Ryan praised as he and the Minutemen raised their weapons in the air and cheered in celebration.

* * *

Unknown to the Minutemen their victory did not go unnoticed as a man in a black coat and sunglasses observed and photographed the whole battle from the roof of one of the buildings across from the castle. X6-88 had been following this man and his companions since they had killed Kellogg at Fort Hagen. He recognized the reporter, Piper Wright, and the Minutemen, Preston Garvey from the Institutes database. Information on the one they called MacCready was sparse but it was known he was a mercenary. Finally there was Ryan, X6 didn't know anything about the man other than he was a very skilled combatant. With his Intel gathered he readied himself to return to his superior for debrief and to receive his new assignment.


	8. Movie Night

After reclaiming the Castle for the Minutemen Ryan and Piper continued their search for information on the Institute, leaving Preston and MacCready in charge of running the Minutemen's day to day operations. Piper had suggested looking for the Railroad, the group was known to be sympathetic towards runaway synths and may have information that could help Ryan. The only clue the two had to go on was a note they found in Diamond City that read _"Follow the Freedom Trail."_ Ryan remembered one such trail that served as a tourist attraction in Boston before the war and figured it was what the note had been referring to. Following the trail led them to an old church and after clearing out some feral ghouls in the basement they found what appeared to be a locking mechanism that required them to input the code left throughout the trail. Ryan had no time for such nonsense and instead he and Piper were currently traveling back to Diamond City to purchase the materials needed for Ryan to build an explosive charge to bypass the hidden door. As they were walking through the ruins of Boston Piper caught sight of the old Hubris Comics building.

"Oh, Blue can we stop and look please?" She asked excitedly as she jogged up to the door. Ryan looked surprised, not expecting the woman to be a fan of pre-war comics.

"I don't see why not? I wonder if they got any cool stuff left."

Ryan walked to the door and pushed it open with his shotgun. Ryan had bought a pump-action hunting shotgun after his first run-in with a group of feral ghouls and found joy in being able to answer the question of what being in a zombie apocalypse was like, until he remembered that he was in an actual nuclear apocalypse. Upon entering the comic store Ryan saw the building was as ruined as any other building in the Commonwealth and sure enough it was crawling with feral ghouls. Ryan made short work of the zombie like mutants with his shotgun while Piper followed closely behind him with her M45.

Ryan fired one last shell into the glowing one that had been waiting on the upper floor and reloaded his shotgun as the creature fell. "I think that's the last of them, stupid zombies…" Slinging his shotgun across his back Ryan and Piper looked around the room they found themselves in, noting the stage setup for the Silver Shroud cartoon. Ryan explained to Piper how he and his Platoon would tune in and listen to the show being broadcast over the radio while they were deployed in Anchorage to keep morale up before heading back down to the first floor to sift through the rubble for anything worth keeping. While Piper was busy searching the comic book stands Ryan headed towards the back room thinking that it was where all the cool stuff would be stored.

"Hey if you find any Grognak comics let me know… I, uh, use them for references…"

"Right…" Piper watched Ryan disappear into the room before continuing to search through old magazines for her favorite comic. After finding a few surviving Grognak comics Piper heard Ryan muttering something about a safe in the other room before hearing him rack the pump on his shotgun and firing a shell into the lock. Piper rolled her eyes at her friend's inability to pick locks and was contemplating teaching him the skill when she heard him gasp. "No…way…" Curiosity getting the better of her, Piper gathered her comics and walked into the backroom to see what Ryan was so excited about. Piper found Ryan holding several holotapes in one hand and two toy figurines in his other.

"What'd you find Blue?" She asked curiously.

"Only one of the greatest movie sagas of all time, freaking Star Wars!" He replied with joy. Piper looked around confused, having never heard of it before.

"Um, that's great Blue. Mind explaining cause I've no idea what that is." Ryan looked absolutely surprised at this revelation as if he couldn't believe that she had just said that.

"Holy shit where have you been? Everyone knows what Star Wars is!" He exclaimed.

"Well I don't, which is why I asked you to explain it to me."

"Oh right, sorry, forgot you grew up after the world ended. I grew up watching these as a kid and got excited that these survived. As for explaining it, I'd much rather show them to you. Hey, I know! We can go watch them at your place, I'm sure Nat would enjoy them too! And we both agreed that you need to spend time with her anyways so it's a win-win!" Ryan's excitement over the holotapes piqued Piper's curiosity and she did agree that spending time with Nat was for the best. Piper knew they should focus on their goal, but they hadn't had time to just hangout in a long time either, so after a short debate in her head Piper agreed.

"Yeah that sounds like fun, only problem is we don't have a working TV to play those on." Ryan frowned at this information and thought for a moment.

"That's not a problem, I'm a Combat Engineer remember? I can fix a TV no problem." He said more to himself than her. Piper doubted this claim as his technical expertise spoke otherwise.

"So you can fix a TV but can't pick a lock or hack a terminal?" She asked with a questioning look.

"Hey shooting locks with a shotgun is a perfectly acceptable means of lock picking, now we should get back before Nat gets ahold of my M4 again…" Piper shuddered at the memory of coming home one day to find out that Nat had figured out how to load the weapon and had decided to use some old cans in the kitchen as target practice. She was pretty sure that all of Diamond City had heard her yelling at her sister for being so irresponsible.

"Yeah, let's go NOW!" Ryan and Piper stuffed their prizes away and quickly headed back to Diamond City.

Upon returning to Diamond City Ryan bought an old TV from the junk store and spent the better part of an hour fixing it up before he, Piper, and Nat all gathered on the couch. Ryan smiled as he watched the two sisters become immersed in the fictional universe he had enjoyed while growing up. The clash of lightsabers, roars of TIE fighters, and the reports of blaster rifles brought Ryan back to a happier time and he looked forward to when he could share this joy with his son. Ryan saved the toy figures of Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper from the comic store, figuring that Shaun would have fun playing with them as he watched the movies.

Once the movies were over Piper made dinner and laughed as she heard Ryan and Nat pretending to have a lightsaber duel with two wooden sticks as Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker respectively, with Ryan letting Nat win in the end. It was good for Piper to see her friend having fun for once after everything they had gone through and she had to admit that she had enjoyed herself as well, having this glimpse into how friends would spend time with each other way back when. Seeing how much fun he was having with her sister left no doubt in her mind that he would have been a great father. _"No, he WILL be a great father."_ Piper quickly corrected her thought.

The month they spent running around the Commonwealth together allowed Piper to get to know who Ryan Anderson really was; He went out of his way to help people even with his own problems and he genuinely cared about the well being of those that followed him, but at the same time he wasn't afraid to shoot someone in the face when they threatened him or his friends and had no problem wiping out gangs of raiders but she just chalked that up as instincts left over from his time in the Marine Corps. And in this time spent together Piper had grown to like Ryan as more than just a friend but hadn't acted on these feelings yet, she knew that Ryan was attracted to her and he was always a gentleman with her, something men that grew up in the Commonwealth lacked in her opinion. The two constantly flirted with each other but beyond that neither had actually made an attempt to go further with their relationship. Piper assumed that while Ryan was attracted to her he was more focused on locating the Institute and his son and that kept Piper from revealing how she felt as it might jeopardize their mission. Still, Piper believed that once this was over there would be time to finally admit her feelings and explore their relationship further. For now she was content to just spend time with Ryan, helping the Commonwealth while working to bring down the Institute and bring back his lost child.

* * *

X6-88 returned to the makeshift shelter in the ruins of Boston that the Institute used for agents staying for prolonged periods of time in the field only to find evidence that raiders had tried to make the place their home while he was out. The bodies of several raiders littered the room, which he found odd considering there were no automated defenses in the shelter which meant that someone else had killed them and was possibly still nearby. Drawing his weapon X6 made his way through the first floor of the old building and was about to make his way up stairs when he heard the sound of a raider gasping in surprise before two gunshots fired in quick succession rang out. Rushing to where the shots came from, X6 found a raider lying on the ground with both his knees shot out and a woman dressed in dark clothing holding a rifle standing over him with her back towards X6.

"Turn around." X6 ordered the woman as he pointed his weapon at her back. The woman turned to face X6 and met his steely gaze with her own. The woman's stare was unnerving as her eyes were an unnatural shade of yellow and were partially obscured by her long raven colored hair.

"You may stand down X6-88, I am A1-13 and the Institute sent me to take over your recent operations." X6 raised his eyebrows in surprise, he had not been informed of such changes, but he lowered his weapon all the same.

He had heard of A1-13, she was the first successful Gen-3 synth, currently acting as one of the Institutes enforcers alongside Kellogg and commanded a large unit of synth troopers. She was different from other synths as she had her own personality and was allowed to complete her tasks in whatever manner she saw fit and due to this behavior most of the Institutes scientists saw her as another human rather than a synth. If she had been sent here than someone in the Institute most have felt that this Ryan Anderson posed a serious threat to the security of the Institute. Kellogg may have been ruthless but the stories X6 heard of A1-13 were unsettling, if the reports he had read were anything to go by.

"I was told that you would have information on the target for me?" A1-13 asked after finishing off the surviving raider by breaking his neck with her foot and slinging her rifle.

"Yes Ma'am. Here is the intelligence I have gathered on him." X6 handed her the photos and notes he had taken of Ryan at the Castle. A1-13 looked at the first photo in her hand that showed Ryan, Piper, MacCready, and Preston fighting the mirelurk Queen. "This is the target here." X6 said pointing out Ryan on the picture. "He is named Ryan Anderson, you may also recognize the woman Piper Wright and the Minuteman Preston Garvey."

"Wait, Anderson? Ryan Anderson?" She asked trying to focus on the man in the picture.

"Yes, do you know him Ma'am?" X6 asked curiously.

"Ryan Anderson is the director's father, he's been frozen in a vault for over two hundred and ten years and he killed Kellogg which means he's looking for his son…Father recently made a Gen-3 synth of himself as a child and sent it out with Kellogg…so that's your game Shaun."

X6 was puzzled by her cryptic answer and noticed that she had avoided answering his previous question. "What do you mean Ma'am?" He asked in an attempt to come to whatever conclusion she had come to.

"Isn't it obvious X6, Shaun wishes to meet his own father, Anderson, for some sentimental reason and had Kellogg killed as revenge for murdering his mother, but Anderson doesn't know how much time has actually passed and believes that Shaun is still a child. Shaun is clever, we're all lab rats in this experiment of his." A1-13 didn't seem too pleased with this conclusion as she crossed her arms and frowned while she thought. "Shaun has instructed me to monitor this man and update him on his progress, and now I believe I know why. Due to Shaun's health he's most likely testing Anderson to see if he's capable of taking his place as director, but from what I know of Anderson I know he would destroy everything the Institutes worked for."

X6 could tell that A1-13 was hiding how she knew Anderson and he found it odd that she referred to Father by his actual name, but nothing stayed hidden from him for long. He didn't want to go against Father's orders but at the same time A1-13 made a valid point, even if she hadn't told him everything, he couldn't just sit by and let Father destroy the Institute over his own sentimentality so X6 would have to go along with A1-13's orders until he decided for himself what the right course of action was. "What do you propose we do then?"

A1-13 paced the room as she rubbed her chin in thought. "I know Shaun wants us to monitor Anderson's progress but I cannot allow his sentimentality to jeopardize the Institute as a whole. To ensure the Institutes future we must eliminate Anderson, where is he at now?"

"Anderson currently stays with Piper Wright at her residence in Diamond City and I believe that they are currently searching for the Railroad."

"Of course he is. If he can lead us to where their hiding, we can eliminate them as well. Continue to track their progress, I need to make a trip to Diamond City."


	9. Chance Encounter

It was morning when A1-13 walked into Diamond City and looked across the market place at all the people running about. She hated having to deal with large populations of humans, even though she was based off of them she found them to be odd creatures. She was about to head up to the mayor's office to gather information from the Institute's agent posing as the City's mayor when she heard someone trying to get her attention.

"Here lady, free issue of the paper for newcomers!" Said a tiny girl who held out a stack of papers to her. A1-13 thanked the girl before taking the papers and glanced at the article's title: _The Man Out of Time_. A quick read through of the article confirmed her suspicions that Anderson was indeed attempting to locate Shaun.

Seeing no date of the articles publication she turned back to the girl that had given her the paper. "You, girl when was this published?" She asked. The girl turned her attention back to A1-13, mildly disgruntled that she had been interrupted.

"My sister wrote that about a month ago, why?"

A1-13 couldn't believe her luck; this girl could give her plenty of valuable information without even knowing it. "Piper's your sister?" The girl groaned in annoyance.

"Uh, what did she do now!?" A1-13 looked confused, apparently Piper getting in trouble was common place.

"She didn't do anything, just curious is all. I'm more interested in Ryan, what can you tell me about him?" Hopefully the question was innocent enough, she didn't want to give the girl any reason to be suspicious of her.

"He's a cool guy, my sister and I are friends with him and he stays with us." She replied eagerly.

"Oh, well that's awfully nice of you and your sister, where is he now?" The girl seemed hesitant to answer but a quick smile from A1-13 was all it took to show she meant no harm.

"He's still inside but you shouldn't bother him, he's busy." This was fine by her, she had no intention of revealing herself to Anderson yet. She was about to ask another question when she heard someone else call out to the girl from the door behind the girl.

"Nat! You leave that women alone and go inside!" A1-13 looked over Nat's shoulder and saw none other than Piper Wright herself standing in the buildings doorway. Nat ran inside as Piper walked outside and greeted her.

"I'm sorry about that, she wasn't bothering you was she?" Piper asked. A1-13 was about to answer when she noticed Piper was focusing on her face, as if trying to remember if she recognized her.

"No she was actually very helpful. Umm is there something on my face?" Piper rubbed the back of her neck nervously.

"Oh I'm staring aren't I? Sorry it's just your eyes, are you sick?" A1-13 breathed a sigh of relief.

"What? That, no It's a slight mutation. I stayed out to long in a radiation storm as a kid and this happened." She explained quickly hoping Piper would believe her. It wasn't that much of a lie, she had been created with bright green eyes and their current state was caused by some form of malfunction, but considering she was several decades old and that her eyes were her only problem was a good sign.

"You know you look familiar I could swear I've seen you somewhere before." Damnit Anderson must have shown her pictures or Piper had seen who A1-13 was meant to replace, she had to leave soon.

"I don't think so; this is the first time we've met." A1-13 was about to leave when Piper extended her hand to her. "Well I'm Piper, pleasure to meet you." A1-13 shook her hand quickly.

"Likewise, now I've taken up enough of your time…" Releasing Piper's hand A1-13 turned and walked a few paces away when Piper suddenly called out to her. "Wait, don't you have a name?" Damn Piper clearly knew something was up with her, giving Piper her actual name couldn't compromise her any more than being seen by her. A1-13 looked back and smiled at her. "Yeah, you can call me Nora…"


	10. The Brotherhood

Piper was still trying to figure out who that woman she met this morning was, she looked exactly like Ryan's wife, she even had the same name as her! But it couldn't have been her because Piper had been at the woman's funeral back at Sanctuary. Nat had told Piper that Nora had asked her questions about the article she wrote about Ryan back when they first met and Piper was slightly concerned that Nora may have been an Institute agent. She had told Ryan about it after their conversation ended but he seemed as doubtful about the whole thing as she did and the two chalked it up to an overactive imagination. Still, Piper would never forget those vibrant yellow eyes, combined with her dark hair, makeup, and clothing she practically screamed _"Hey! I'm evil!"_ but she had seemed like any normal person and she heard that after a talk with the mayor she left town which made Piper all the more suspicious.

Currently she and Ryan where walking through the Commonwealth after a failed meeting with the Railroad's leaders, who had not been pleased by the new door Ryan had created for them. After a short standoff they had been told to leave but one of their leaders, a man named Deacon, was sympathetic to their plight and promised to see if he could smooth things over for them.

After another few minutes of walking in silence Ryan suddenly spoke up. "We should go see if Nick and Amari have had enough time to get Kellogg's brain ready." Piper had nearly forgotten about that.

"Yeah we could, all our other leads have gone cold for the moment." The two then changed direction and headed back towards Goodneighbor.

Some hours later Ryan and Nick were sitting in memory pods deciphering Kellogg's memories for a way into the Institute. Piper watched Kellogg's memories play out on a screen with Dr. Amari and found that Kellogg's life nearly mirrored Ryan's, serving as a warning of what Ryan could become should he succumb to anger and bitterness.

Once their trip through Kellogg's memories were finished the only thing they had learned was that the only way into the Institute was by some form of teleportation getting them nowhere closer to their goal. The only valuable piece of information they learned is that there was an Institute scientist that left the Institute and was hiding out somewhere in the Glowing Sea. This scientist could provide them with the information they needed but they had no means of getting past all the radiation to reach him. "If we had some power armor we'd be set but I'm sure all the old military bases have been raided already." Ryan said while they brainstormed.

"I hate to say it but I think the Brotherhood of Steel may be our only option." Piper informed him. "The Brotherhood is camped out at the old airport, we could go there and see if they'll help."

Ryan sighed loudly. "Somehow I doubt their just going to give us power armor, probably have to do a bunch of stuff for them first." He grumbled as he headed back upstairs. Piper thanked Nick and Dr. Amari for their help before running after Ryan.

* * *

"Listen here you stupid tin can motherfucker! I've been a Lance Corporal longer than you've been alive! Who the hell are you to call me a fucking recruit you fucking boot!" Piper had to quickly pull Ryan away from the Brotherhood sentry stationed outside the airport. Apparently Ryan took offense to being called a recruit, having served four years in the Marine Corps and fighting in Anchorage he was anything but.

"Blue, calm down! Let's go!" She yelled at him as he continued to shout at the sentry. Piper would have found the whole situation humorous had she not been sure Ryan would kill the sentry. At least they had learned that they could get into the Brotherhood by meeting with a Paladin Danse at one of the old police stations, which is where Piper was taking Ryan once he calmed down.

After meeting with Paladin Danse, Ryan and Piper found themselves accompanying him to Arc Jet Systems, a pre-war science facility that had been overrun by synths. Danse had agreed to sponsor the two for membership in the Brotherhood after Ryan told him of their situation and Danse believed Ryan's pre-war military experience could benefit the Brotherhood's military doctrine. Piper however wasn't pleased with having to actually join the Brotherhood in order to gain their help and she was pleased that Ryan wasn't too happy with the situation either. It seemed that Ryan found Danse more agreeable than the other Brotherhood members he had met, even if he was a little to motivated about his job.

Clearing out the Arc Jet building was taking longer than Ryan had thought it would but it was nice to have a walking tank to absorb all the fire for him. After a short mishap with a prototype engine the building had finally been cleared and the three regrouped outside the building to discuss the ordeal.

"That was great work back there, you two really handled yourself like soldiers…" Danse began before Ryan interrupted him.

"We're Marines, not soldiers so of course everything went well it's what we do." Ryan said proudly.

"Right, my mistake Lance Corporal. In any case I promised to help you once this was over and I'm nothing if not a man of my word. Come on I'll take you to see the Elder now."

Ryan and Piper followed Danse as he led them back to the police station. Piper jogged up to Ryan and whispered to him so Danse wouldn't hear her. "Blue, you sure this is a good idea? I mean are we really going to join the Brotherhood?" She asked concerned.

"I don't like it either, but we don't really have any other options right now. This Danse guy seems legit enough, but if they have us try to do anything that we don't like we'll leave alright?" He whispered back. Piper still seemed unsure about this but as long as she and Ryan were in this together they'd be fine.

"Alright Blue, just remember I'm doing this for you not them." Ryan flashed her a smile to reassure her.

"Come on, what's the worst that can happen?"


	11. Journey Across the Wastes

Ryan's meeting with the Brotherhood's leader, Elder Maxson, went well in his opinion. Since both parties had a mutual goal to bring down the Institute Maxson had agreed to allow Ryan and Piper to make use of the Brotherhood's resources, under Paladin Danse's supervision and in exchange for military support from the Minutemen in combating the Institute. As a sign of trust between the two factions Maxson made Ryan and Piper Honorary Knights in the Brotherhood and tasked them to follow the lead they got from the Memory Den about tracking down Virgil in the Glowing Sea.

"Thank you Elder, I'm glad we could come to this arrangement and I look forward to having our troops working together." Ryan said, offering his hand to the Elder. Maxson took his hand in a firm handshake.

"Likewise Lance Corporal, our alliance will allow us to finally bring peace to the Commonwealth and I wish you luck in finding your boy. Paladin Danse is ready to accompany you whenever your ready." Ryan released his hand and nodded.

"Of course, I just need time to inform my troops of our new alliance, thank you again Elder." With the meeting finished Ryan and Piper walked back out to the flight deck to catch a Vertibird back to the airport.

"Well that went better than I imagined, this whole alliance you've made might actually be a good thing." Piper said as they waited for their ride.

"I think it will be. I mean the Brotherhood's methods may seem kind of extreme to civilians, but being a Marine and having fought in war I can understand their reasons."

Piper looked over the railing down at the Brotherhood's army occupying the airport and sighed. "Maybe, but what about after the Institutes gone? What if the Brotherhood turns out to be a bigger threat than the one we're facing now? The Minutemen aren't strong enough to fight them." Ryan crossed his arms and paced back and forth in thought. What Piper just said was a valid point, the Brotherhood was currently the strongest military power in the Commonwealth. The Minutemen lacked the numbers, training, and equipment that the Brotherhood possessed and should it come down to it they would lose.

"As always you make a great point. We need to improve our military strength, starting with our equipment. Once we get back to the Castle I'll come up with a plan to gather equipment." Ryan sighed as he rubbed his forehead, feeling the start of a massive headache. "Once again I have to put Shaun on hold for who knows how long. Why can't things ever be simple…"

A few days later at the Castle Ryan, Piper, MacCready, Preston, and Paladin Danse were gathered around a table with a map of the East Coast on its surface. Red X's marked across the Commonwealth indicated all the pre-war military installations that had been scavenged for equipment. The majority of the bases had been raided long ago with only a handful of ammunition crates being recovered. Ryan had brought up the point Piper made with Preston and he had agreed that reforming the Minutemen as a military force was an excellent idea. The Minutemen had involved Paladin Danse with this operation to strengthen relations with the Brotherhood, but Ryan kept him in the dark about the reasoning behind the buildup.

"We'll have to begin searching outside the Commonwealth for equipment, we've searched all the bases here." Ryan looked over the map and pointed towards a point in North Carolina. "Camp Lejeune is located here, it's a large Marine Corps base and it has several armories and motor pools across the base and I believe it'd be our best bet."

"You can't be serious? North Carolina's halfway across the East Coast, we'd be marching for weeks with no resupply!" Preston expressed his doubt as he looked at the distance they would have to cover.

"Don't be so quick to dismiss it Garvey." MacCready butted in, directing the group to D.C. on the map. "Capitol Wastelands about halfway there, we can resupply at Rivet City on our way there and back."

"We should be fine traveling through the Capitol Wasteland, the Brotherhood has a base of operations at the Citadel and routinely patrols the wastes." Danse informed the others.

"Then it's settled. All of us plus a squad of Minutemen will set out for Lejeune in two days' time." Ryan said, finalizing the operation.

With the plan ready the group dispersed to ready themselves for the long journey ahead of them. Ryan was heading out to gather a squad of Minutemen when Piper caught up to him. "Blue, I'm happy to travel with you across the country but what about Nat? I can't just leave her on her own for god knows how long." Ryan flashed her a reassuring smile before addressing her concern.

"I've already arranged for Nick to look after her with Codsworth and Dogmeat while we're gone. Don't worry Piper, she's in good hands." Piper shook her head and smiled at his resourcefulness.

"You've really thought of everything haven't you?" Ryan laughed at her comment.

"Of course I have, I'm a responsible person remember?" He joked before walking out to the courtyard.

"Lieutenant I need to speak with you for a moment." X6-88 looked up from what he was doing and saw Anderson walking towards him. The courser had infiltrated the Minutemen under the alias John Shepard on orders from Nora and sent her regular reports on their activities. X6 stood at attention as he addressed Anderson.

"General Sir, can I help you?"

"At ease Lieutenant, I need you to assemble a squad for an expedition to North Carolina. We'll be out for several weeks so make sure their properly equipped for the mission in two days' time." Anderson ordered.

"Yes Sir, I'll begin preparations immediately." X6 replied. Once Anderson left X6 slipped off to inform Nora of their targets plans.

Two days later Ryan and his group left the Castle and began their expedition. Getting through the Commonwealth with such a large force on foot proved difficult as they drew attention from roving gangs of super mutants and raiders but by the end of the third day they had made it out of the Commonwealth and into the ruins of New York city. The large pre-war city posed its own hazards as the city was infested with feral ghouls and the expedition had nearly been overrun before they could barricade themselves inside the lobby of the once proud Empire State building, thankfully without any casualties. After the Minutemen cleared the lobby the expedition set camp and established a fire watch rotation after making plans to depart in the morning once the ferals fled back to the subways when the sun came up.

Once morning came the expedition quickly packed up their equipment and double-timed their way out of infested city and entered Pennsylvania two days later. By in a weeks' time they had made it three quarters way through the state and planned to enter Maryland by the end of the week.

Little did they know however that X6 had been informing Nora of their progress and she, along with a detachment of Gen-3 synth Stormtroopers were following close behind the expedition being careful to remain unnoticed by Anderson's team.

Nora's Stormtrooper Corps served as the Institute's shock troops, operating independently of the Coursers and Gen-1 and Gen-2 troopers, and was solely comprised of Gen-3 synths handpicked and trained by Nora herself to be ruthless in combat and completely loyal to the Institute and its goals. Armed with the latest variant of the laser rifle and dressed head to toe in white armor they were a force to be reckoned with. Nora had based their armor off of one of the original Nora's memories of troopers with the same name from a movie she had seen with Anderson before the war and had modified the design to produce an armor that protected its wearer from light ballistics and fragmentation and also provided protection from the elements as well as toxins.

When coursers failed to apprehend runaway synths Stormtroopers would be sent to eliminate the troublesome targets, resulting in the annihilation of entire settlements in some cases. While most people in the Commonwealth dismissed the Stormtroopers as a local myth to frighten children and exaggerate the Institutes reach there enough reports of settlements going dark that many settlements feared that one day the "Men in White Armor" would visit them and destroy them as well. Even the Railroad, which openly fought the Institute dismissed them as Institute propaganda to frighten the masses into compliance. Seeing that they would be moving into the Capitol Wasteland soon, Nora tasked X6 to operate at his own discretion and to make sure that Shaun was left out of the loop about why they we're operating outside the Commonwealth without his authorization while she looked into locating someone who had meddled in Institute affairs ten years ago…


	12. Massacre at The Republic

After another week and a half of travel through unknown territory the expedition made it into the Capitol Wasteland, and were relieved to see a settlement appear on the horizon. "Welcome to Megaton. The bomb is perfectly safe." Said a protectron unit standing by the gate.

"Somehow that's not reassuring to me." Ryan commented as he led his people inside. After a brief introduction with the towns Sheriff, Lucas Simms, and reassurance that the atomic bomb in the towns center was truly unarmed, Ryan paid for his team to stay in the local saloon for the night.

Once Ryan made sure everyone was settled in he went downstairs to the bar and ordered a beer from the ghoul managing the place. He was halfway through his drink when Piper sat down next to him and ordered herself a drink as well. "Feels nice to have a roof over our heads again after all that time in the wastes." Said Piper once her drink arrived.

"I hear ya, haven't made a movement like this in a while but it feels good being out here. You ever travel this far down the coast before?" Ryan asked after agreeing with her comment.

"Actually yeah, remember how I told you Nat and I grew up outside the Commonwealth? The settlement we lived in isn't that far outside Maryland and I've got family that lives here in the Capitol Wasteland. Doesn't really matter now though, Commonwealths home for me now." She answered.

"No shit, small world I guess. You plan on seeing them while we're here?" Piper looked thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head no.

"Nah, I haven't heard from Uncle James since I was a kid. Heard he worked on that big water purifier the Brotherhoods running out by Rivet City though, so props to him for that. What about you huh? How'd you end up in the Commonwealth Blue?" Ryan took a drink from his beer before answering.

"Well my story's not as exciting as yours. I grew up out in California, enlisted in the Marine Corps, married my wife, and fought in Anchorage. Nora's parents had moved out to Massachusetts while I was deployed. Once Nora was pregnant with Shaun we moved to Massachusetts so her parents could be close to their grandchild. I didn't mind the move that much and my parents had pretty much disowned me when I enlisted so there was nothing holding me back in Cali. And, well, you know the rest. I doubt my childhood would interest you." Piper giggled at his comment.

"You were a little shit weren't you?" She joked. Ryan feigned offense and clutched his chest.

"Ow, was not…" He started before Piper cut him off with a stare. "Ok maybe I was a turd, but definitely not a shit." He defended himself.

"Oh? I didn't know there was a difference." Piper said with a raised eyebrow.

"Goddamn, it's getting warm in here with all that fire you're spitting." Ryan said with a smile. "No wonder Mayor McDonough hates you." Piper laughed at his comment and smiled back at him.

"It's not that hard to make him mad, trust me." She said with a 's expression then changed to a more serious one as she looked away from Ryan and towards the counter, causing Ryan to become concerned at her sudden change.

"Something wrong?" He asked, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No, just thinking about something." She replied softly.

"You can talk to me; you know that right?" Ryan told her.

"I know…It's just… I've been having some thoughts about…you." Ryan laughed lightly while she played with her hands.

"I didn't do anything wrong did I, I thought we were great friends." He replied, worried that he had done something to upset her.

"No, you didn't do anything…it's me. We've spent a lot of time together and you're right, we're great friends but lately I've come to care about you as more than a friend and I know now might not be the best time to admit this to you but I can't hold it in any longer. So there it is, I'm in love with you." Ryan's mind was racing; Piper had just admitted her feelings to him like that. He was happy that they we're friends and he did feel that he had an attraction to her but every time he had thought about bringing it up he could never find the courage to do so, not wanting to ruin what they had already. But here she had gone ahead and beat him to it. Piper got up to leave when Ryan didn't respond to her admission immediately. "I should go this was a mistake…" She said, but before she could leave Ryan grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Piper don't go. I feel the same way about you, I have for a while now but I was too scared to tell you." He told her while looking into her eyes.

"Ryan, you don't how happy that makes me!" She exclaimed happily.

"You make me happy too, and I promise I'll take care of you." He replied.

"I know you will, I trust you completely." Piper said before leaning in to kiss Ryan, who returned the kiss eagerly. Piper broke the kiss and got up from her seat and walked towards the stairs, while Ryan sat at the bar with a smile on his face before coming to a realization.

"Hey, wait a minute! You called me Ryan!" He exclaimed as she reached the stairs.

"That was just a onetime thing, Blue." She said looking back at him over her shoulder with a smile on her face.

Ryan and Piper's new relationship didn't go unnoticed by the others, who took notice of how the two stayed closer together on their way to Rivet City. MacCready looked at Preston and smirked. "Told you they'd get together, now pay up Garvey!"

* * *

Night had fallen over the Republic of Dave and Bob was making his final rounds across the town when he saw lights in the distance. Thinking he was seeing things he rubbed his eyes, but when he looked again he saw that the lights were brighter and moving towards the Republic. Bob quickly charged his assault rifle and ran inside to warn the others before whatever was heading they're way reached them.

Bob returned with Dave and the other adults just as an Institute assault transport landed outside the Republics gates. The Institute had developed these assault transports as a means to move their synth army when they needed to operate outside of the Institute's teleportation grid. The transports themselves would be teleported outside to the Commonwealth and made use of VTOL technology to quickly gain altitude to avoid detection before speeding off to their destination.

Bob and Dave stared in disbelief as the Transport lowered its ramp and a squad of Stormtroopers ran out. The two were clearly outnumbered but fired at the Troopers as they ran into the town while the women ran to protect the younger residents. Reacting to the fire they were receiving the Stormtroopers returned fire with deadly accuracy as Bob was shot while attempting to find cover. Dave emptied his rifles magazine in anger at the Troopers, who waited for him to be forced in to cover to reload. As Dave reloaded a Trooper sprinted to his position and knocked Dave's rifle out of his hands before striking him across the face with the butt of his rifle. Dave remained conscious and tried to lunge at the Trooper only to receive another strike to the chest. The Trooper than grabbed Dave by his collar and dragged him out to the town center were Dave saw the rest of his family being dragged out of their quarters at gun point by the other Stormtroopers before Troopers with flamers set the buildings on fire.

Dave was drug past his family and thrown on his knees in front of a woman wearing a black Stormtrooper chest plate over black robes. Nora fixed her gaze on the man in front of her, who visibly shuddered at how the fires in the background were reflected in her yellow eyes. "You dare attack the Republic of Dave, you communist pigs!" Dave yelled with sudden confidence. Nora laughed at his outburst, finding it funny that he would attempt to scare her off after putting up such a pitiful defense.

"Oh please, you're Republic is so insignificant that it doesn't even show up on any map." She taunted.

"How dare you! We will not fall to communist scum like you!" Dave continued to rant.

"Is that what you think this is, a communist takeover? How did such an idiot come to lead these people? No wonder you put up such a weak fight." Nora's words confused Dave. If they weren't here to invade why did they open fire on him?

"Who are you people? Why are you here?" Dave asked.

"Who we are isn't important, as for what I want... you have knowledge on someone I'm looking for. The Lone Wanderer, where is she?" Dave glared at Nora, how dare she attack his Republic and then demand things from him.

"Even if I did know I wouldn't tell you!" He yelled defiantly.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Nora said menacingly with a grin before nodding to one of her Stormtroopers. The Trooper grabbed Dave's youngest daughter, Flower, and dragged her by her hair over to Nora while the rest of his family cried out for her. Dave watched as the Trooper threw Flower to the ground and delivered a kick to her stomach with his armored boot, causing her to cry out in pain, before forcing her to her knees facing Nora and aiming his rifle at the back of her head. Nora knelt down to look the girl in the eyes and Flower began to cry in fear of the woman.

"Why did he hurt me? Why are you hurting us?" The girl sniffled. Nora smiled at the girl to calm her.

"Don't worry sweetie, daddy will protect you, won't you daddy?" She said in a threatening tone. "Go on, tell daddy to give us what we want and we'll leave you and your family be." She ordered, forcing Flower to look at Dave.

"Daddy please tell her; I don't want her to hurt us anymore." Flower pleaded.

"I…I can't, I don't know where she is I'm telling you!" Dave pleaded to Nora's dissatisfaction. Nora glared at the man before nodding to the Trooper once again, who delivered a blow to the back of the girl's head with his rifle, creating a sickening crack as the metal made contact with her head. "NOOO!" Dave roared as he tried to get to his daughter who had burst into tears from the blow but he was quickly restrained by two Stormtroopers. "You fucking bitch! I'll kill you!" Dave screamed at Nora while the Stormtroopers held him back. Nora remained standing calmly and smirked at him.

"Is that any way to talk to a lady? I warned you what would happen, last chance." She warned again, lifting Flower into the air by her hair. Dave looked at his daughter, wanting nothing more than to help her. He tried to remember anything he could about the Lone Wander and finally came up with something that he hoped would appease the woman.

"Vault 101…She's from Vault 101. I don't know where she is but someone there can tell you, just let my family go." He muttered and Nora smiled at his admittance.

"That wasn't so hard now was it? Kill them all." She ordered her Stormtroopers after dropping his daughter. Dave's eyes widened in surprise at her order.

"What!" He cried in outrage.

"I'll be honest I never planned on letting you go; pathetic creatures such as yourselves don't deserve to remain living." Nora said with a shrug of indifference as the Trooper standing over his daughter shot her in the back with his laser rifle while the others formed a firing line and gunned down the rest of his family in front of him. The Troopers holding Dave released him and he sank to his knees. "Don't feel too bad though, you'll see them again soon enough." Nora taunted. Dave looked up to see she was aiming a Berretta M9 at him. Dave closed his eyes, praying that it would be over soon but alas he was denied a quick death as Nora fired two rounds into his stomach, ensuring that he would bleed out slowly. He could only watch as the Troopers filed out of his once proud Republic back to their transport with their murderous leader and flew off towards the direction of Vault 101.


	13. The Lone Wanderer

Nora and two of her Stormtroopers were dropped off near Vault 101 the day after Ryan's expedition left Megaton for Rivet City and planned on questioning the inhabitants of Vault 101 for information on the Lone Wanderer. Nora was under the assumption that most vault dwellers were ignorant of what happened outside of their vaults and as such didn't bring an assault team with her, deciding instead to take a more diplomatic approach than the violent one taken at the Republic of Dave. She was surprised however to find that the vault door was wide open and that she and her escorts were welcomed inside by one of the security guards. After explaining that they were looking for the Lone Wanderer Nora and her guards were immediately brought before the vault's Overseer, Amata Almodovar.

"Where did you say you were from again?" Amata asked the woman who had introduced herself as Nora and was now seated on the other side of her desk while her two guards stood on either side of her. The three were some of the strangest individuals she had ever met, looking like they came straight out of an old sci-fi movie.

"We're private military contractors from the Commonwealth." Nora answered.

"And what exactly do you want with my friend, if you don't mind my asking?" She asked.

"We're tracking a group of dangerous individuals that fled justice in the Commonwealth. We believe that they ran to the Capitol Wasteland and that they may seek out your friend to protect them from us." That got Amata's attention, her friend was too nice to turn away anyone asking for help, even if it had gotten her into trouble on more than one occasion.

"That would be a problem. She's currently staying in Rivet City with her family, maybe you can get there and warn her before they do." Amata said, worry for her friend evident in her tone.

"We don't know how far these criminals have gotten, but we've got more than enough troops to search every settlement for them. With your permission I'd like to leave a team of Troopers in your vault to apprehend them should they show up." Nora offered, already scheming on ways to hurt the Lone Wanderer should she refuse to cooperate with her.

"Yes, that would be fine. You'll also want to check out Megaton. It's not far from here and someone there might have seen your fugitives." Replied Amata, agreeing to Nora's request.

"Excellent, thank you for your time, Overseer. My troops will arrive shortly and we'll be on our way." Nora said, shaking Amata's hand before standing from her seat and leading her guards back outside to the waiting assault transports.

Once back at the staging area her troops had set up Nora left her escorts and found one of her officers. "Captain, the Overseer of Vault 101 has allowed us to station troops in her vault under the guise of hunting runaway fugitives. Take your squad and settle in with them, don't do anything else until I say otherwise, understood?" She asked after issuing her orders.

"Understood Ma'am, no harm will come to the residents until you say otherwise." He replied before gathering his squad and marching to the vault.

* * *

The Minutemen reached Rivet City in the afternoon with little trouble, and after tasking Lieutenant Shepard and his men to gather the necessary supplies to continue their mission Ryan's friends dispersed to explore the city. MacCready was showing Ryan and Piper around the market when a woman in an armored vault suit called out to him.

"MacCready? Is that you?" The woman asked as she approached the three. MacCready looked at the woman in surprise before smiling.

"No way, Ashley, you're still here!" He exclaimed, returning her greeting.

"Of course I'm still here, I have a family now, remember?" She said. Ashley looked to be in her late twenties, her blue eyes matched the color of her vault suit in contrast to her red hair. Ryan noticed that she carried an old Russian AK-47 assault rifle on her back and had a SIG Sauer P226 strapped to her leg.

"Right, forgot you married after that whole Enclave ordeal. How's the husband and kid?" MacCready asked. "Well, Butch is still Butch, but Christian is great he'll be turning two next month." She replied.

"Great to hear, before I forget these are my friends Ryan and Piper. Piper's a reporter and Ryan came out of a vault like you did." MacCready said, introducing the two. This got Ashley's attention, the only other vault dwellers she had seen outside of her own vault were either long dead or completely insane.

"Pleasure to meet you both, what brings you to Rivet City?" Ashley asked after shaking Ryan and Piper's hands.

"Likewise, and that'd be easier to tell you sitting down." Ryan replied. "Well come with me, you three can relax in my room and tell me what's going on?"

Ashley led them out of the market and to her quarters, apologizing that she couldn't introduce her husband. Her son, Christian, however was still there and he clung to his mother when she introduced them to him. "Forgive him he's a little shy, huh little guy?" She cooed, eliciting a laugh from the boy as she held him in her arms.

"Cute kid, it must be nice to be able to raise him inside of the city than out there." Piper said.

"It is, I've seen what's out there and I'm glad he doesn't have to be in that environment. He won't have to worry about food shortages and thanks to the purifier clean water is easy to come by." Ashley replied.

"I've heard about the purifier, my Uncle James worked on it nearly a decade ago." Ashley raised an eyebrow at this comment.

"James was you're Uncle?" She asked Piper.

"Yeah, do you know him?" She answered.

"Of course I know him; James was my Father." Ashley replied, surprising Piper.

"Then that means, we're cousins!?" She exclaimed while Ryan and MacCready looked at the two in surprise.

"Small world huh? Dad never told me about having other family, I mean I always assumed but I never thought I'd actually meet you." Ashley said.

"I hate to ruin this reunion but you did want to know about why we're here right?" Ryan asked before the two got distracted further.

"Right, sorry. We can catch up later Piper. Go ahead Ryan."

MacCready had told Ryan that Ashley was the hero known as the Lone Wander that had saved the Capitol Wasteland from the Enclave a decade ago so he felt no need to hide anything from her. He told her everything, how he was born before the war, Vault 111, his wife's murder and Shaun's kidnapping by Kellogg and the Institute. How he had met his friends, rebuilt the Minutemen, and formed an alliance with the Brotherhood of Steel. Finally, he told her the reason they were passing through the Capitol Wasteland. Ashley sympathized with Ryan, being a mother herself, and told them of her own experience with the Institute years ago. Ryan felt uneasy now that he knew the Institute operated this far outside the Commonwealth, and the recent report from Three-Dog, the local DJ, about the sudden destruction of the Republic of Dave so soon after their arrival set his nerves on end. With their discussion over they parted ways with Ashley to reserve rooms at the local hotel and plan tomorrow's route.

* * *

Later that night Ashley was still thinking about Ryan's story while she ate at the marketplace; he reminded her of herself somewhat, thrown into a world where everything you know has changed and having to search for a missing family member. She had just finished eating when someone addressed her from behind.

"Excuse me are you Ashley DeLoria?" Ashley turned to see a woman in dark clothing with the strangest eyes she'd ever seen standing behind her.

"Yes, can I help you miss?" She asked wondering what someone could want at this hour.

"Just a moment of your time is all. I'm Nora Anderson and I've been looking for you." Ashley caught her last name and wondered if she was Ryan's wife but dismissed the thought when she remembered that he had told her she had been murdered.

"Well you've found me, what'd you want to talk about." She asked again. Nora took a seat opposite her and stared into Ashley's eyes, unnerving her with her gaze.

"Do you remember a Dr. Zimmer; he went missing here ten years ago I was hoping you could lead me to him." Nora asked. Ashley recalled that Zimmer had been an Institute scientist that was tracking a runaway synth, A3-21 or Harkness as she knew him, and she had killed him after learning he was planning on taking Harkness back to the Institute.

"He was killed trying to recover something years ago, I think he said he belonged to the Institute or something like that." She replied, feigning ignorance. With the recent events happening she had to guess that this "Nora" was an agent of the Institute.

"Hmm that's unfortunate. And what of the item he was trying to recover?" Nora asked.

"Gone." Ashley replied bluntly. "Your Institute aren't you?" She asked. Nora chuckled in response.

"How very perceptive of you, yes I'm with the Institute and you murdered my creator ten years ago." She answered.

"So you're a synth and Zimmer created you. Do you want revenge for what happened is that it?" Ashley asked.

"Not exactly, you did me a favor by killing him. With him gone his division now belongs to me, but unfortunately for you, you made yourself a threat that I can't ignore." Answered Nora.

"So what happens now?" Ashley asked curiously.

"You are going to come with me and answer for what you've done." Nora replied.

"That's not going to happen, sorry to waste your time but this conversation is over." Ashley said while getting up from her seat.

Ashley had begun to walk away when Nora called out to her again. "Remember that what happens next is because of you, Ashley…" Nora stated ominously. Ashley glared at the woman and walked away to warn Ryan and his friends about the Institute. Nora was still seated at the table after Ashley left and smiled as she contacted one of her Commanders. "Prepare the troops to assault Rivet City and have Captain B3-12 terminate the residents of Vault 101…"


	14. The Battle of Rivet City

Ashley stopped by her quarters before finding Ryan to make sure that her husband was there to protect her son. Butch was confused when she came in rambling about an Institute but when she told him about her encounter down in the mess and how their son was possibly in danger he paid close attention. "Go on and find your friends Ash, I'll look after our boy. Nothing will harm him I promise." Butch told her as he chambered a shell into a combat shotgun.

"Ok, I'll be back soon." She said before running off.

Ashley found Ryan and Piper out on the flight deck, night had fallen and it was eerily quiet out in the city. "Ryan, Piper! The Institute, they're here!" She shouted. They turned in surprise at what she had yelled.

"What!? How?" Ryan asked as Ashley paused to catch her breath.

"I met a woman down in the mess, she asked me about Zimmer and A3-21. She told me Zimmer created her and that when he died she took over his position in the Institute then she told me that I had to pay for his death. She wanted to take me back to the Institute but I told her to fuck off, then she threatened me, I think she's going to hurt my son, please you have to help!" She exclaimed. Ryan grabbed her shoulders to keep her steady while Piper spoke.

"Who was this woman, what did she look like?" She asked.

"She had dark clothing, black hair, and yellow eyes. She called herself Nora Anderson." Ashley replied, surprising both of them.

"That's the woman I met back in Diamond City, I knew she was no good!" Piper exclaimed. This revelation was troubling to Ryan.

"This doesn't make sense; why would they create a synth of my wife? Is this some sick joke their playing!?" Ryan yelled, infuriated that the Institute would mock his wife like this.

"It doesn't matter, we're all in danger!" Ashley shouted.

"Your right, Piper find the others and warn them of an emanate attack, Ashley, you and I should talk with the local security to track this woman down." Ashley and Piper both nodded and the three went to warn the city of the danger.

"Send a detachment of troopers to the Citadel, wipe out the local Brotherhood of Steel members then rejoin the main effort. I want the rest of the troops for the assault, capture the Lone Wanderer alive, kill anyone that stands in our way." Nora ordered her officers. She had begun planning an attack on Rivet City as soon as Ashley walked away. With her troops orders delivered she just had to take care of her spy. "X6-88, come in." She spoke into her communicator. _"Go ahead Ma'am."_ X6 replied over his communicator. "We'll be assaulting the city shortly, when the bullets start flying you are to NOT break your cover, do you understand?" She ordered. X6 was in far too valuable position to break his cover now. _"Yes Ma'am."_ Came his short reply. With everything in place Nora walked out of the city to wait for her troops to arrive.

* * *

After hearing what Ryan and Ashley had told him, Harkness had personally searched the entire city for Nora. With his memory restored he was able to remember her and knew that she and her Stormtroopers posed a great threat to the city and its inhabitants, but unfortunately he and his security team had been unable to locate her. "There's no sign of her anywhere, but we're on full alert." He reported to Ashley.

"My men stand ready to help as well." Ryan told her.

"Ok, I need to go check on my family now." Ashley told them. As she began to walk up the stairs towards her quarters the ships bell began ringing from the flight deck.

Ashley turned around and followed Ryan and Harkness outside to the market place entrance. What they saw sent chills down their spines as several pairs of lights flew towards the city. Two of the pairs broke off from the rest and landed in the Citadel's courtyard. The three looked up to see Institute assault transports fly overhead and land on the flight deck while another landed on the other side of the gangplank and deployed Stormtroopers. The Stormtroopers rushed the gangplank and killed two of the security guards. "Back inside now!" Ryan yelled as he unslung his M4 and fired bursts at the Troopers to cover the others. Inside the market they regrouped with Piper and the others. Security forces and Minutemen soldiers ran to find cover while the civilians found hiding spots.

Stormtroopers had already secured the flight deck and were busy fighting to take the ships control tower as another transport landed. Nora stepped off the transport and loaded a magazine into her HK M27 IAR. She preferred projectile weapons over energy weapons as they allowed her to inflict more pain to her targets than lasers or plasma which instantly cauterized wounds. Seeing as that multiple High Value Targets were in the area Nora had decided to personally participate in the attack to ensure that her Troopers didn't kill anyone important. Security forces in the tower had been overrun and her troops now controlled access to all of the ships decks by way of the stairwell.

"Ma'am, we have confirmation of Anderson and the Lone Wanderer in the market place." One of her officers informed her.

"Good I'm on my way now, send your troops to the residential quarters, kill them all." She ordered before heading towards the market.

Back in the market the fighting had intensified, Stormtroopers had pushed the defenders back so far that the entire market had turned into a free-for-all. Ashley's AK-47 roared as she shot down another Trooper, but no matter how many she killed more seemed to take their place. Harkness wasn't fairing any better, his rifle had run dry a while ago and he was forced to use the weapon as a blunt instrument. After beating down another Trooper he was called out by a Stormtrooper who recognized him. "Traitor!" The Trooper yelled, throwing down his weapon and whipping out a shock baton. Harkness stared in surprise as the Trooper charged him and swung the baton, striking his weapon out of his hand before striking him repeatedly. Ashley looked over just in time to see the Trooper deliver a finishing blow to Harkness, the runaway synth's body crumpled bloody and broken at his feet. She quickly brought her rifle to bear on the Trooper and emptied a magazine into him before she was forced into cover by other Troopers.

It was at this time that Nora appeared on the deck above the market and joined the fight. She spotted a group of security guards trying to protect some civilians from her troops and she smirked as she set her M27 to automatic and sprayed a continuous burst into them, cutting them down. Her action hadn't gone unnoticed as MacCready used his sniper rifle to force her into cover. Nora growled as she fired rounds at his positon to suppress him while she dove for cover and reloaded. Luckily for her MacCready was forced to switch targets as Stormtroopers closed in on him, allowing her to jump down to the market and join her Stormtroopers in killing these worthless creatures. After killing another group of security guards she finally spotted Anderson and his reporter friend on the other side of the market and she began to make her way to them.

Up in the residential quarters Butch could hear the fighting going on throughout the ship. He kept his shotgun close and had locked the door when Ashley failed to return before the attack, but he knew that she could handle herself in a fight, she had beat him up in a fight after all. He was more concerned with their son, the loud noises had frightened Christian and Butch was unable to keep him from crying. He paced the room but stopped when he heard the door next to their quarters being blown open followed by screams that were quickly silenced by laser fire. Butch knew that they would be coming to his door next and pointed his shotgun at the door as Troopers began cutting through. The door was suddenly blown inwards and Butch roared as he fired his shotgun through the door…

X6-88, or Lieutenant Shepard, as the Minutemen knew him was pinned down behind cover with his soldiers along with Preston and Danse. He found it quite easy to shoot at the Stormtroopers despite them technically being on the same side. He chalked it up to him being a Courser and he killed them without remorse. The Minutemen under his charge cheered as he killed multiple Stormtroopers with ease and he was unaccustomed to such praise, but he liked the feeling.

Ryan and Piper found themselves backed into a corner. Piper's M45 had run out of ammo shortly into the battle and Ryan had given her his hunting shotgun as a replacement. She had trouble with the weapon as the recoil was a bit much for her at first but once her adrenaline kicked in she was able to operate it as well as her pistol. Ryan was firing his M4 on burst into crowds of Stormtroopers and had advanced into one of their positions while Piper covered his back. As he finished off his targets he heard Piper cry out from behind him. Nora had spotted them in the fight and caught Piper in mid-reload, stabbing the muzzle of her M27 straight into Pipers sternum knocking the breath out of her and taking her out of the fight. Ryan glared at her as she smirked back at him.

"Ah, we meet at last husband." Nora said, aiming her rifle at Ryan.

"Don't call me that, my wife would never stand for this violence. You're just a fake imitation of her." Ryan yelled at her.

"Your right, I'm not your wife. I'm much better than that weakling could have ever been." She sneered back at him. Both of them pulled the triggers on their weapons at the same time only to find that they had both run dry. Ryan chided himself for not paying attention to his weapon and readied himself for Nora's attack. Nora charged him with her weapon, swinging for his head but Ryan anticipated her move and blocked with his own rifle. The two continued to melee with each other as the firefight raged around them, but Ryan found himself becoming more and more fatigued as the fight went on. Finally, Nora got the upper hand by knocking Ryan's M4 out of his hands and sending him to the ground with a butt stroke to the chin. Ryan fell against the wall as Nora reloaded her weapon and stood before him.

"Don't worry, you'll get to be with your wife again." Nora taunted as she leveled her weapon at Ryan's forehead. Ryan shut his eyes and waited for the bullet to kill him but it never came. Nora pressed her finger to the trigger but something was stopping her from firing. She was confused at her sudden inability to attack, she felt… something. She couldn't define what it was but whatever the feeling was it kept her from pulling the trigger and killing Ryan. Ryan opened his eyes, wondering why he wasn't dead yet and looked up to find Nora had a confused look on her face like she was having an internal conflict. He noticed that her unnaturally yellow eyes shifted to the bright green of the real Nora and he saw tears begin forming. Before either of them could act further Nora was struck by a shotgun blast to her abdomen, knocking her over one of the market stalls. Ryan looked to see Piper lying on the ground with the shotgun in her hands. Ryan quickly got up, grabbed his M4 and reloaded. Looking to where Nora had landed he found she had already disappeared.

Nora's chest plate had taken the brunt of the shot but a few pellets managed to puncture her armor and she held her hand to her side in an effort to control the bleeding while she limped away from the battle until a pair of Stormtroopers saw her condition and carried her back to one of the transports. "Call off the attack, we're down here." She told one of the Troopers after they laid her down in the transport and injected a stim pack into her side.

"Ma'am?" The Trooper asked, confused at the sudden change of orders.

"Do it!" Nora shouted. The Troopers ran off to issue her order and left her in the transport. Once they were gone she got up and looked at her reflection in one of the transports windows and saw that her eyes were shifting back from green to the unnatural yellow that she was accustomed to but the tears were still there. Nora was confused, she had no problem killing others why was Anderson any different? Something had stopped her from going through with it, she had even felt emotion starring at the man that the original Nora had cared for. She knew she possessed the original Nora's memories, but she had never felt her emotions before now and it scared her. What if this happened again? She could not allow herself to be emotionally compromised like that again and she promised herself that she would learn what had made her act in such a way and destroy it.

Ryan, Piper, Ashley and the others were surrounded when the Stormtroopers suddenly pulled out, leaving the group alone in the market. A quick headcount showed that they were all alive, but many of Rivet City's security and civilian population had been killed in the attack. The shop keepers that had been in the market when the attack begun had been killed along with their patrons. Even Harkness and his team had been killed in the battle. Walking out side they could see that the Citadel had fared worse as the entire building was on fire.

"Oh shit! I need to check on my family!" Ashley cried and took off running for the stairs.

"Hey wait, it could be dangerous!" Ryan shouted after her. Ryan, Piper, and MacCready followed her up the stairs to the residential quarters and down the halls. They were surprised when Ashley suddenly stopped in the hallway where her room was located. Looking past her they could see why; her door had been blown open and a dead Stormtrooper laid halfway through the entrance.

"No no no…" Ashley whispered as she ran down the hall and into her room with the others closely behind. The cry they heard come from the room would haunt them for the rest of their days, stepping into the room they found Ashley had sunk to her knees sobbing, her husband had been killed by multiple laser blasts across his body with his shotgun still in his hands and even worse her son, who wasn't even two years old had been killed by a laser while lying in his crib. Ashley held her murdered son in her arms and sobbed uncontrollably. Piper felt herself becoming sick and allowed MacCready to walk her out of the room to vomit. Ryan hadn't seen this kind of savagery since Anchorage and had hoped to never see anything like it again. "They killed my baby! Those monsters killed my baby!" Ashley cried. Ryan placed his hand on her shoulder to comfort her, but knew that no amount of comfort offered would ever soothe the pain she felt now.

"I'm so sorry. This is my fault, If I hadn't insisted on coming here…" Ryan began to say before Ashley cut him off.

"It's the Institute's fault, not yours. They would have tracked me down eventually. I just can't believe they would do something like this, my baby, all those people, murdered for what? To get to me?" She said in between sobs.

"I don't know what could have drove them to this, but if there's anything you need I'm here." Ryan told her.

"Thank you, but I need to be alone for now. I'll find you when I'm ready." She replied. Ryan nodded and left her alone to grieve.

He found the rest of his people back in the market helping the survivors, which were noticeably little. Ryan spotted Lieutenant Shepard and walked over to him. "Lieutenant, what's the situation?" He asked.

"Not good Sir, we have four men down and two wounded. Local security took the worst of it though, their down to twenty-five percent effectiveness. As for the civilians, it's not good, a lot of them got caught in the crossfire." X6 reported.

"I know, those animals murdered Ashley's family on the upper deck." Ryan commented. X6 shook his head in dismay. He knew what Nora was capable of but he never thought he would witness it firsthand, to order the deaths of so many people was beyond him. He questioned if Nora had always been this way though, he'd seen her freeze up when she was about to kill Ryan. If he had to guess, traces of the original Nora were lying dormant in her and were just now beginning to surface. Regardless he was still under her command, but after following Ryan around for a while he was beginning to believe that she was wrong about the man. X6 decided that once they were done in Rivet City he would send a full report on what he and Nora had been doing back to Father, maybe he could make sense of all of this and find a way to change Nora.

* * *

Three days later Rivet City held a funeral for everyone that had been killed in the attack. Three-Dog broadcasted the news over the radio to let everyone in the Capitol Wastes know of the atrocities that had taken place. Rivet City hadn't been the only settlement attacked, as Three-Dog reported that the Citadel had also taken large casualties with most of the Brotherhood deployed to the Commonwealth and that Vault 101 had been completely wiped out just like the Republic of Dave had been. When Ashley heard the news that her old home had been massacred along with her family she attempted to kill herself by jumping off the top of the control tower, luckily Piper had found her in time and stopped her, convincing her that this wasn't what her family would have wanted. Now she walked around aimlessly, without purpose, a shell of what she used to be. Once the funeral was over Ryan gathered his forces and prepared them to depart. As they were about to head out he was stopped by Ashley running to him.

"Ryan, wait!" She called out. Ryan waited for her to reach him and catch her breath. "Wait, I'm coming with you." She said to his surprise.

"You sure?" He asked.

"I'm sure, there's nothing left for me in the Capitol Wasteland, I want to help you rescue your son and avenge mine." She told him. Ryan nodded his head in agreement.

"Don't worry you'll get your chance." He told her.

"And then we'll kill them all." Ashley replied vengefully.


	15. MCB Camp Lejeune

After leaving Rivet City behind it took another two weeks to cross through Virginia and into North Carolina. Once there it was another three days before they reached the main gate to Camp Lejeune, only to find that the gate was up.

"Hang on a sec, I got this." Ryan said as he walked into the security booth and accessed the terminal inside. He plugged his DOD ID into the terminals CAC Card reader and waited for the system to read his security clearance. The machine buzzed for a moment before text appeared on the screen.

 _DOD ID Confirmed: LCPL Anderson, Ryan, J_

 _Access To MCB Camp Lejeune Granted_

Ryan grinned as he removed his ID and walked back outside to his friends. With the gate lowered they walked into the base to find the buildings in front of them mostly intact. Ryan led them towards one of the buildings and noticed that the base seemed empty, even for a ruin as there weren't any bodies. He figured that the Marines stationed here had been deployed to aid the National Guard after the bombs fell. Once inside he rummaged through a desk and found a map of the base and laid it out on the desk for the others to see. With them gathered around he marked the locations of the armories, ammo supply points, and motor pools before issuing his orders. "Alright people, listen up. MacCready, Preston, and Danse, I want you three to search the ASP's and recover all the ammunition you can find. Lieutenant Shepard, you and your men take the armories. Piper, Ashley, and I will scout out the motor pools. Be careful, the base appears empty but be on the lookout. We'll meet up at the motor pool on Mainside at 2200." After everyone had agreed the parted ways to complete their assigned tasks.

* * *

Several hours later X6-88 and his men had recovered numerous weapons from armories across the base. The Courser had stopped by one of the motor pools and found a 7-Ton troop transport with a trailer was still operational and he used the large truck to store the recovered weapons in. His men had recovered many weapons ranging from surplus M16A4's and M4's, to heavier weapons such as M240 Bravo machineguns, and M2 .50 CAL's, along with several AT4 and SMAW rocket launchers. In short they had recovered enough weapons to arm the entire Minutemen Militia and then some. With his job complete X6 and his men loaded up in their 7-Ton and drove back to the rallying point.

Danse, MacCready, and Preston walked into one of the bases ASP's and stared in awe at the amount of ordinance that was stored inside.

"Holy shit, I must have died and went to Heaven." MacCready commented, imagining what he could do with all these bullets.

"It is truly a sight to behold." Danse agreed.

"Good thing this is all underground, could you imagine if this had blown up?" Preston wondered.

"Well, we better get started. Let's load all his up and get back to the motor pool." Danse said. The three set about loading the crates of ammo onto the lift back to the surface.

Ryan's task of securing the motor pool was significantly easier than the other groups tasks had been and he chuckled to himself as he felt the Lance Corporal side of him come out. Back in the day it was common for Lance Corporal's to find ways to skate out of doing work, leaving it for Marines of lesser rank to do while they hid from their superiors. It wasn't without risk though; if one was caught skating they would be left to their Corporal's to be "corrected".

He smiled to himself as he remembered all the times he had almost been caught before getting back to his job. The motor pool still had a good amount of vehicles in working order even so long after the war. Ryan gathered four up-armored Humvees, two 7-Tons, and a six-wheeled MRAP and set them online in a convoy formation. With the vehicles secured all he and the others had to do was wait for the others to arrive.

While Ryan was setting up the vehicles Piper took the chance to talk with Ashley, the woman had somewhat recovered from the attack and was slowly returning to her old self. Piper found her cousin sitting in the back one of the Humvees and she took a seat across from her.

"Hey Ash, how you feeling?" Piper asked. Ashley looked up from her Pip-Boy and smiled at her.

"I'm fine, don't worry. It was hard, but I've accepted what happened and I'm ready to help you guys fight the Institute." She replied confidently. Piper was relieved to hear that.

"That's great, I'm glad you're doing better. You really scared me back on that tower." Ashley reached out and took her cousin's hand and sighed.

"I'm sorry you saw me like that, it's just that when I learned that everyone from my childhood along with my family was gone I lost my reason to remain living. But then you came and talked me out of it, gave me a new purpose, to bring justice to everyone that the Institute hurt not just in the Capitol Wasteland, but the Commonwealth and anywhere else they've been. I can't thank you enough for giving me this chance, you're an amazing person and Ryan's lucky to have you." Piper was surprised at that last part; she hadn't told Ashley about her relationship with Ryan yet. Ashley laughed at Piper's confused look and patted her shoulder. "Don't look so surprised Piper. It was easy to see that you two are together, what, with all the looks you keep giving each other. Ryan's a great guy, don't let him go alright?" Piper smiled and nodded her head when Ryan appeared.

"Trucks are ready, all we got to do know is wait for the others." He informed them. Piper looked up at the sun and guessed they had at least an hour before the others would arrive. Feeling a need to do something to pass the time she exited the Humvee and walked towards the motor pools gate.

"Alright I'm going to go do some exploring." She yelled back at the others.

"Ok, be careful." Ryan yelled back.

"Yeah, yeah don't worry." She replied. Ryan dismissed her with a wave of his hand and went back to working on the vehicles as Piper looked around. She spotted what looked to be barracks and headed towards the large building. Once she reached the building Piper discovered that it was really just a bunch of dorm rooms connected by hallways. Piper walked down one of the hallways and began reading the names listed on doors. _LCpl Perez, PFC Flores, PFC Smith, PVT Yates, Cpl Walker, LCpl Lopez, Cpl Miller, Sgt Wright_ … Piper stopped and stared at the door with her name on it. She didn't know if Wright had been a common surname back before the war, nor did she have a knowledge of her family from that time. Curiosity getting the better of her she tried the door only to find that it was locked and would only unlock by using an access card. Piper sighed as she walked away from the door and walked back down the hallway. At the end she came across an open door which read: Duty NCO Hut. Looking inside she found a desk with several binders and a radio on top of it, flipping through the binders provided nothing useful and so she rummaged through the desk and found a key card that was labeled Master Key. Smiling at her find she pocketed the key and jogged back to the door she had tried opening.

Piper slid the card through the reader and the door opened with a satisfying click. Pushing the door open revealed one of the most organized rooms she had ever seen, everything was neat and if it weren't for nearly two-hundred years' worth of dust she would have said the room had been cleaned yesterday. The room was simply furnished with a bed, nightstand, drawers, closet, desk, and a private bathroom. The closet was wide open and Piper looked inside to find a set of fatigues similar to Ryan's except they had Wright stitched onto them and had a Sergeants rank on the collar. After searching the closet Piper tried the nightstand next and found a small journal inside. She took the journal and sat behind the desk and began reading.

Sergeant Wright's journal contained an account of his career in the Marine Corps as far back as when he was a PFC. Reading through it Piper learned that he had enlisted prior to the Chinese invasion of Alaska and that he was a member of the Military Police. Once the invasion happened he was deployed to Anchorage and assigned to a POW camp where he watched over captured Chinese Soldiers. His notes spoke of how he could hear the fighting from the city and that he wished he was out there helping the grunts instead of babysitting POW's. After the war ended he was sent back to North Carolina and reenlisted for another four years of service. Life after the war was boring he wrote, mentioning how he hated standing at the gates for hours on end with nothing to do. When the bombs dropped he and the rest of the Military Police were deployed outside the base to help with relief efforts. After several months though things began to turn for the worse. Raider gangs had been formed and constantly attacked the base, feral ghouls made the city a danger, and finally the Chain of Command fell apart. Most of the remaining Marines stayed together after leaving the base and would go on to form groups similar to the Regulators and Minutemen, protecting people from the dangers of the apocalypse. Others, like Sergeant Wright left the Marines to find their families. In his last entry Piper learned that he was planning to return to his family in Maryland, the same state where Piper was originally from.

Piper set the journal down and felt tears start to form. This really was her ancestor's room, he had been a Marine and defended his country just like Ryan. She wiped her eyes and stood up from the desk, placing the journal in her pocket. She went back to the closet and gathered up her relative's fatigues, placing them in her pack before making sure she returned the room to how it was before she got there. Piper left the room and headed back to the motor pool. Once their she saw that the other groups had arrived and were busy getting everything loaded onto the vehicles.

"There you are; I was starting to worry. Find anything interesting?" Ryan asked once she found him. Piper smiled up at him.

"Yeah, I did."


	16. The Return Home

Final preparations for the return trip were almost finished, with all the equipment loaded up onto trailers the only thing left to do was mount weapons onto the vehicles which Ryan and Paladin Danse busied themselves with.

"Ok, hand me that .50 CAL receiver." Ryan said to Piper. He was standing on the roof of the lead Humvee and had just finished completing the turret mount. Piper looked down at the receiver, pleased that it was in better condition than the one back at the Castle and grabbed a hold of it. The receiver was heavier than it looked however and she struggled to bring it chest level. Gathering her strength, she raised the receiver over her head only to feel herself falling backwards. Seeing her predicament Ryan quickly reached forward and pulled the receiver forward so he could take it from her. "Alright, maybe just hand me the barrels then." Ryan commented as he mounted the receiver. Piper nodded her head in embarrassment and grabbed the weapons barrel, handing it to Ryan.

With the weapons mounted and the vehicles placed in convoy order they mounted up and drove out of the base. Two Humvees made up the front of the convoy, followed by the MRAP and 7-Tons in the center, while the last two Humvees brought up the rear. Ryan drove the lead vehicle with Piper and lead them back along the route they had taken to get there. Piper rode up in the turret behind the machine gun, enjoying the feeling of the wind blowing through her hair. After her moment of bliss, she climbed back down into the passenger seat next to Ryan.

"So you going to tell me what you found back there?" Ryan asked once she was settled into the seat.

"You'll never believe it, I found some of my family history. One of my relatives before the war was stationed there before the war!" She exclaimed excitedly.

"No way, you sure it wasn't just some guy that had your last name?" Ryan asked, believing it to be coincidence.

"I'm sure of it, I found his journal and it said he was going back to Maryland to be with his family after the bombs fell. I'm from Maryland remember! My ancestor was a Marine just like you are!" She shouted happily, unable to contain her excitement.

"Wow, that's really cool. I 'm happy for you and I bet Nat would love to hear about when we get back." He replied.

"Yeah, she would. I can't wait to see her again; this trip has been crazy." Ryan chuckled at that comment.

"That's an understatement, Rivet City was a mess. Too much like Anchorage." Piper noticed he frowned at mentioning Anchorage and she became concerned.

"Shit, I forgot that seeing that might have been hard for you, are you alright?" Piper asked, voicing her concern.

"Yeah I'm fine, I just wish we could've done more." He answered.

"They caught us off guard, we did all that we could've have." Piper replied, placing her hand on his shoulder to reassure him.

Ryan looked at her and smiled quickly before turning back to the road and sighing. "We were caught in an ambush while patrolling through Anchorage, they hit our lead and rear vehicles with RPG's to box us in. I was in behind the machine gun of our middle vehicle and had just started to return fire while the rest of my squad jumped out of the truck to engage when they opened up with machine guns from the rooftops." Ryan said, not looking at her. Piper listened intently realizing that he was finally telling her what had happened back in Anchorage. "Their MG's cut down half of my guys in seconds, the other half made it to cover but they were pinned down. I tried to suppress them with my own machine gun and I think I killed some of them. That was when an RPG exploded under my vehicle flipping it onto its side while I was thrown from the turret. I don't remember what happened after that. I woke up in a hospital days later, the doc's said that I had been knocked unconscious from the fall. Apparently my squad had rushed the building that the Chinese were in while I covered them, but it had been crawling with them. The squad that responded told me that they had killed all the Chinese Soldiers, but at the expense of their own lives. After that I was reassigned to a different squad in the platoon and finished my tour, but it wasn't the same. We all felt the loss, those men had been our brothers and they were gone just like that. Once we rotated back to Camp Pendleton I helped train new engineers but was passed up for promotion to Corporal and denied reenlistment because of it. After being discharged Nora and I moved to Massachusetts to focus on our family, and you know the rest." Ryan said, finishing his story. Piper felt bad for him, not being able to help his friends must have been hard on him.

"I failed those men, just like I failed Ashley back at Rivet City." He said bitterly.

"That wasn't your fault, what happened was out of our control. We did our best." Piper said trying once again to reassure him.

"Our best wasn't good enough. I won't fail like that again; I promise you…"

* * *

Another day of travel later and they entered the Commonwealth. Finally, the Castle came into view to everyone's relief. The Minutemen that had stayed behind cheered as the convoy pulled into the Castle and circled around the courtyard. Once the vehicles were parked the Minutemen began storing the weapons and ammo into the Castles armory to be issued later. For now, they would remain in the armory until needed.

With the mission over Ryan dismissed the expedition members to do as they pleased while he talked with some of his friends. Paladin Danse said his farewells and headed back to the Prydwen so the Brotherhood could study gear recovered from Stormtroopers at Rivet City. He brought Preston, MacCready, and Ashley into the war room and informed them that he would teach them how to properly use the weapons they recovered and they in turn would train the Minutemen and assign them into squads. Ryan later informed Piper that he would teach her how to use an M16. With her ancestor having been a Marine it seemed only right that she learned to be a rifleman just as he had and earn the right to wear his uniform in battle. Piper happily agreed, seeing it as an opportunity to strengthen the bond she and Ryan had but first she wanted to go home and see her sister.

Piper and Ryan brought Ashley along with them to Diamond City to introduce her to her younger cousin. Nat was bouncing of the walls when told about Piper and Ryan's new relationship and couldn't keep herself from bombarding Ashley with questions about her adventures in the Capitol Wastes. When asked if they brought anything back for her Piper pulled out their ancestor's journal and told her all about their relative from before the war. Nat was less enthused about her family history than her sister, but Piper assumed that it was just because she was young. Finally Piper informed Nat that she would be continuing her journey with Ryan and that she'd keep in touch more. They spent the night at Piper's house before returning to the Castle in the morning.

For the next week Ryan would be busy running through weapons drills with his friends getting them ready to pass on his knowledge. MacCready was already an excellent marksmen and he excelled at preforming all the drills Ryan put him through. Preston and Ashley were decent as well, they just had some kinks to work out but they eventually got the maneuvers down. Piper was a different story, she excelled at close quarter drills due to her experience with pistols but her accuracy at long distances was terrible. Ryan worked with her to refine her shooting stance and to make use of her natural respiratory pause when pulling the trigger. Finally, she seemed able to apply the fundamentals Ryan taught her and she caught up to the others level. Confident that they would be able to train the Minutemen effectively Ryan sent them on their way to begin training. After their training the Minutemen became the best riflemen in the Commonwealth, rivaling the Brotherhood in terms of accuracy. With his Minutemen established as a legitimate fighting force Ryan was ready to continue his mission to locate the Institute and his son, knowing that his army would be ready to fight them alongside the Brotherhood of Steel when the time came.


	17. From the Grave

Nora stood atop a hill overlooking the settlement of Sanctuary, Vault 111 directly behind her. It had been no easy task to reach this place, Ryan and his Minutemen now knew who she was and would do everything in their power to apprehend or kill her. She stared down at the single cross that rested atop the hill and scowled in disgust. "Look at you, too weak to stop Kellogg from taking Shaun. Some mother you were. This is where you belong, dead in the ground." She spat, venting her frustration at her original self. Nora gave one last glare at the grave and turned to walk away when a voice spoke to her.

"Something far worse than death has happened to you." The voice said. Nora turned around, pistol in hand to face whoever had snuck up on her and was startled to see herself, or rather an apparition of Nora, the real Nora, standing before her. "You have allowed hatred to take control of you and have forgotten who you are." The dead woman told her. Nora glared at the apparition.

"You have no idea what you're talking about whatever you are, you don't know anything about me!" She shouted.

"But I do know you, we're the same person remember? You were created to replace me, to give Shaun the mother that was taken from him." X6-88 didn't know it but he had been right in assuming that Nora hadn't always been who she now was. After her creation she had spent the first twenty years of her life raising Shaun, that is until the Institute decided he didn't need her anymore.

"Ha, your right about that, but they didn't do me the courtesy of letting me know that I was just a replacement. I have your memories, when I first woke up I thought I was still in vault 111. They told me that Kellogg taking Shaun was just a vivid dream brought on by the decontamination sequence, and that Ryan had died due to a malfunction in his pod. I lived completely unaware of what I was, raising YOUR child and mourning a husband that I never even knew! When Shaun grew up they finally told me what I was, that everything I had ever known was a lie! They took Shaun from me just as they did from you, but unlike you I fought back. It took four Coursers to restrain me, so they could take Shaun. I thought they would have me killed, a synth murdering Institute scientists in their own home was unthinkable, but instead they saw potential in that act of violence and they sent me to the Coursers to be reassigned. That is when this happened." She said, pointing to her eyes.

"I excelled in this new line of work, capturing runaway synths was right to me. Why should they get to run off and live happily while my life was ripped from me? But even the Coursers were flawed, so I created the Stormtroopers to make up for their deficiencies. With them at my command I was able to extend the reach of my vengeance and spread fear to the humans. My Stormtroopers are loyal not to the Institute but to me. Now the Institute allows me to do as I please, not out of respect, but out of fear, fear that I'll turn against them. I still haven't forgiven the Institute for what they've done to me. When Shaun became Director years later he asked to see me again, but the mother he had known growing up was gone, destroyed by Institute and replaced by what you see before you. I know what I've become, I'm not blind to the fact that people see me as evil, but it was by my own choice. The only reason I don't have my Stormtroopers kill everyone there is because despite my hatred of them I still love Shaun, even if he can't look at me anymore." Nora's last sentence brought tears to her eyes and she quickly wiped them away.

"Your hatred of the Institute is justified, but you've hurt so many innocent people with the things that you've done." The spectral Nora told her.

"So what, it was humans that created me in the first place. It makes no difference to me which one's pay for that mistake." She replied, shrugging her shoulders indifferently.

"We both know that's a lie, there is still compassion in you. When you saw Ryan you saw the man that the Institute told you was dead and for a moment your old self, the part of you that cared for people resurfaced and stopped you. You want that life back even if you don't realize it, otherwise you would have killed Ryan when you had the chance." Nora sneered at the apparition of herself.

"That was a mistake that won't happen again, Ryan means nothing to me. He was your husband, not mine!" The spirit laughed at that.

"Lie to yourself if you must but don't lie to me. I can sense the conflict raging inside you, you wonder if what your doing is really what you want or if you've been so blinded by hate that you don't even know what you really want. You've spilled enough blood in your quest for vengeance, it's time that you let go of your hate."

"Your wrong, there is no conflict! This is who I am, and there's nothing you can do to change that! I will burn the entire Commonwealth before I allow myself to go through that pain again! Nora shouted. The real Nora's image smiled sadly back at her.

"I can not force you to abandon this path of destruction you've chosen. Only you can choose to continue down this path or abandon it and return to being the person you were meant to be. You may think that it's too late for you to change, but I know there's still time for you to redeem yourself. Their will soon come a time where you yourself must choose which path to follow. Farewell Nora, we will not meet again…" Nora sneered at the apparition and leveled her pistol.

"You are so right..." She growled, firing her pistol, but the apparition had faded away before the bullet could touch it. Nora scowled at where the image of her old self stood. That thing, whatever it had been, was wrong; her methods may be extreme but what she was doing was right to her. She needed justice for what was done to her, not redemption for the things she had done. Nora once again turned away from the grave and walked down to the hill to Sanctuary. Nora wasn't sure if what she had just seen was the spirit of the real Nora, or if it was a part of her subconscious playing tricks on her. Either way Nora planned on staying as far away from that grave as she could...

* * *

 **Hello there! This is Stormtrooper96 and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say hi and to answer the questions about this story that I've gotten.**

 **First off I'd like to say thanks to everyone that's enjoyed this story so far, it's been a blast to write and I look forward to continuing it! I greatly appreciate the reviews I've gotten so far; this story wouldn't be where it is now without all the support I've gotten from them! That so many of you are enjoying this story has exceeded my expectations of how well this story would do!**

 **Now onto the questions, I've been meaning to answer these for some time now so sorry for the delay.**

 **Q: Why did Ryan serve in the Marine Corps instead of the Army?**

 **A: In short, I'm a Marine myself so it's only natural I'd choose the Marines over the Army, not that there's anything wrong with the Army, except that their not Marines…**

 **Q: Isn't the Sole Survivor supposed to be older than Piper?**

 **A: Not necessarily. Their age isn't specified in the game (That I've seen), and is left up to the player's discretion. In this case he's younger, the bombs dropped only months after his discharge from the Marines. Ryan enlisted as soon as possible (17 years of age) and got out four years later at 21. By this point in the story though he's probably turned 22.**

 **So that's it. I'd be glad to answer more questions if there out there.**

 **Once again I'm glad that so many of you enjoy reading this story as much as I enjoy writing it!**

 **Semper Fidelis**

 **-Stormtrooper96**


	18. Points of View

X6-88 and Nora stood outside the door to Shaun's office in the Institute. After leaving Sanctuary Nora was found by X6-88 and told that Shaun wanted to speak with them. She was surprised at this news; Shaun hadn't spoken to her in a long time, preferring to pass orders to her by messengers. Curious as to the sudden wish of her presence she returned to the Institute with X6-88.

Nora entered the office with X6 behind her and saw Shaun looking out of the window at the atrium. Shaun turned to greet them once he heard the door open. "Ah, welcome X6-88." He greeted the Courser before turning his attention to Nora. "Mother. It has been some time. Please sit both of you." He said, taking his seat behind his desk. The two followed suit and sat across from them.

"Of course it's been some time, have you become so busy that you don't have time for your own mother? Or is that you just despise me?" Nora said sarcastically, causing Shaun to sigh.

"Please Mother, I don't hate you. But it has come to my attention that you have been conducting horrible things behind my back." He informed her, to her surprise. "Yes, I know all about what you and your Stormtroopers have done in the Capitol Wasteland and that you have been trying to kill my Father." Nora turned and glared at X6, he was the only one that could have gone behind her back like this.

"You reported me!" She shouted at the Courser, who was unfazed by her outburst.

"Calm yourself Mother, X6-88 did what he felt was right. Murdering innocents is not what the Institute is about. I have forgiven past transgressions that you and your Stormtroopers have committed , believing that those settlements had gotten in the way of apprehending runaway's. But I cannot ignore this unprecedented violence against innocents." He told her.

"What my Stormtroopers and I do is for the good of the Institute, if you could see what I have you would understand that." She replied, justifying her actions.

"And what justification do you have for interfering in my plans with my Father?" Shaun asked.

"Ha! Don't think you can fool me Shaun. Hide this as an experiment if you must, but we both know that you want to pass on your title to him. I know your Father, he wouldn't agree with the views of the Institute and is working to destroy us! What I'm doing is protecting you from him!" She yelled, slamming a fist into the desk.

"And how do you know he would destroy us? Perhaps under his leadership the Institute could change for the better." He replied calmly. "For too long the Institute has been seen as a monster by the people of the Commonwealth. We've lost sight of what we originally stood for: To benefit humanity, not control them through fear. My Father could bring us back to what we were meant to be, and we can begin to make amends and help rebuild the world." Nora shook her head in disgust.

"No, the Commonwealth is beyond our ability to fix and they will never understand us. We don't need change!" She replied.

"That is not your decision to make!" Shaun said firmly, ending the discussion. Nora stood from her seat and glared at Shaun.

"Your wrong Shaun. Despite your misgivings about me I still love you, but I will not allow you to make this mistake and throw away everything that we've worked for." She warned before storming out of the room.

Shaun sighed as she left. "X6-88, you have spent time with my Father. What is your assessment of him?" Shaun asked.

"From what I've seen your Father cares for you greatly. He has gone to great lengths to find you and has gathered a large number of followers to help him in his quest. A1-13 is right in her assessment that he could destroy us, but I agree with you that once he realizes what we intend for him he could do great things." X6 replied.

"Thank you X6-88. Continue aiding him, but be wary of my Mother. I fear that all of this is driving her mad and I worry that she may do something rash. Stop her if you must but please do not let her suffer." Shaun ordered. X6 nodded his understanding and left the room leaving Shaun to his thoughts.

"Mother, why do you do this to yourself? Can't you see that things need to change, or are you so far gone that you forgotten what it is to be human? You've always been human to me, I hope you know that. All I want is for us to be a family again, you, me, and Father because despite what you think Mother, you were the one to raise me and I still love you just as I would have loved my real Mother. I hope you can realize that before it's too late."


	19. The Glowing Sea

Ryan, Piper, and Paladin Danse stared out at the Glowing Sea, wondering what kinds of creatures would call the radioactive wastes home. The Brotherhood had provided the three with hazmat suits rated to handle the amount of radiation exposure they would encounter. They had decided to use the suits in favor of power armor as they were making use of one of the Humvees they had recovered to traverse the Glowing Sea quicker and the vehicle wasn't large enough to accommodate individuals wearing power armor.

"Well no sense in putting this off any longer, let's get in there." Ryan said reluctantly. As much as he wanted answers from the Institute scientist hiding in there he had no desire to be made a meal of by the residents that called this place home. As such he had tried to convince Piper to stay behind, worried about her safety but she had refused saying that she would rather risk herself out there with him than sit back safe at home worrying about him. He eventually caved in and allowed her to tag along and they had gone to pick up Danse from the airport the next day. Reaching the Glowing Sea had been troublesome, the southern Commonwealth was heavily occupied by the Gunners mercenary group and they had taken potshots at the armored vehicle as it drove by. Fortunately, they ran off after Danse used the Humvee's mounted .50 CAL to fire short bursts back at them. Eventually they reached their current location and had stopped to marvel at the radioactive nightmare that was the Glowing Sea.

Once everyone was back in the Humvee Ryan put the vehicle in overdrive and drove the vehicle forward into the Glowing Sea where the intense radiation began messing with the vehicles instruments. Ryan checked the Geiger counter on his Pip-Boy and was glad that they were wearing hazmat suits, not even five minutes in and the radiation was already at lethal levels. Driving onward they came across a group of feral ghouls wadding through radioactive waste. Upon seeing the vehicle approach the creatures got up and charged. Ryan heard Danse load the machine gun put he waved him off, accelerating the vehicle and plowing through the monsters instead. Piper jumped in fright as one of the creatures went over the hood and smacked into her side of the windshield before being thrown off the side while Ryan laughed at her expense.

"That's not funny Blue!" She exclaimed, smacking his arm.

"I don't know, it looked pretty funny to me!" He laughed back at her.

"Ugh, just keep driving you!" She huffed as he continued to laugh.

With the feral ghouls crushed under the Humvee's tires they continued on, but without knowing their exact destination they ended up driving for hours. Eventually they came across an old church buried up to the roof and they stopped to take a minute and stretch their legs. Looking into the church revealed another horde of feral ghouls trapped inside. Feeling bad for the people that the ghouls had once been, Piper retrieved the M16A4 that Ryan had given to her after the expedition and put them out of their misery. Ryan and Danse had been alarmed at the sudden shots fired but when Piper explained herself they sympathized with her, telling her that she had done the right thing.

They got back in the Humvee and left the church shortly after, feeling a sudden need to distance themselves from that reminder of the old world. It wasn't long until night fell over the wastes, plunging them in darkness until Ryan turned on the vehicles headlights, illuminating the area around them. Feeling tired they agreed to stop for the night and resume their journey in the morning. Some hours later Piper was woken from her sleep by Ryan. "Hmm, What's up?" She murmured sleepily as she looked up at him. "Your turn for fire watch." He informed her. Piper groaned as she traded places with Ryan, climbing up behind the machine gun. She got as comfortable as she could and set in for her two-hour watch. Piper occupied her time by going over the stories she wanted to write about the adventures she had been through since meeting Ryan. She hadn't expected him to change her life so much, nor did she expect to fall in love with him, but she was glad that things had worked out like they did. She looked down into the Humvee at Ryan's sleeping form and smiled happily to herself. Piper was suddenly torn from her thoughts by a low growl coming from somewhere in the dark. Peeking over the turret she saw the one thing that sent chills through every wastelander's bones. A large Deathclaw was lurking around the Humvee trying to figure out what the vehicle was. There was no way Piper would be able to rotate the gun without alerting the monster so she slowly lowered herself into the cabin. Piper looked out the side window to see the Deathclaw looking through back at her, fogging the window with its breath. She shuddered as it pushed on the door with its snout trying to see if it would open. When the door didn't budge it huffed in boredom and growled one last time before walking off into the night. Seeing the beast leave Piper climbed back up into the turret and heard the creature roar off in the distance as it spotted new prey.

Morning finally came and Piper woke the others and told them about their late night visitor. They looked at her in disbelief before continuing to get ready. Once ready they continued driving and came across a large crater. "Must be where the bomb dropped. I saw it explode just as we made it into the vault." Ryan commented as he observed the crater.

"Wow, that must have been intense. Do you think anything's inside?" Piper asked curiously.

"Maybe, but we'll have to go on foot, Humvee won't climb this steep a hill. Danse stay with the vehicle, Piper and I are going to check out the crater." He called up to Danse, who nodded his response. Ryan and Piper then exited the Humvee and climbed up the outside of the crater, looking inside they were surprised to see a settlement had been constructed.

"Who the hell is crazy enough to build a settlement way out here?" Piper asked.

"I don't know, but keep your guard up." Ryan answered as he pulled back the charging handle on his M4. Piper followed suit with her M16 before the two walked down the inside of the crater and into the settlement. As they walked into the settlement they were greeted by an elderly woman at what appeared to be a church. Ryan told her they meant no harm and asked if she knew of Virgil. They were relieved when she told them she did and directed them to a cave just north of their settlement. Ryan thanked the woman for her help before he and Piper returned to Paladin Danse and the Humvee.

"Did you find anything?" Danse asked them once they returned.

"Yeah, there's a cult living in the crater. They said Virgil lives in a cave north of here." Ryan replied as he climbed back into the driver's seat and started the Humvee again. It didn't take long before Danse spotted the cave and relayed it down to Ryan who pulled over at the cave's entrance.

Danse stayed with the vehicle again as Ryan and Piper entered the cave. Piper followed Ryan into the cave when he suddenly held out his arm and stopped her. She looked past him and saw why, two machine gun turrets stood guard over another cavern. Ryan told Piper to stay put while he went first and she held her breath as he walked past the turrets. She sighed in relief when he reached the other side without getting shot and she quickly caught up with him. They walked further in and discovered a spacious cavern filled with scientific equipment. Piper looked around the room for any signs of life when she suddenly heard Ryan grunt from behind her. She turned around and to see him collapse to the ground unconscious as a large figure swung a metal pipe, striking her over the head and knocking her out. The last thing she was Ryan being dragged further into the cavern by the mysterious figure…


	20. Virgil

Piper woke to find herself tied up in the cavern with all the scientific equipment. To her left she spotted Ryan tied up as well, still knocked out from the blow to his head. Piper grinned despite her current predicament, this would be the first time she had woken up next to him since they got together. Overseeing the Minutemen was taking its toll on him, the young Lance Corporal was being forced into a General's position and he was unused to having so many people suddenly under his care. The near endless tasks of keeping the Minutemen going left little time for them to see each other outside of the field and she wondered if this was what the real Nora had felt back when Ryan was in the Marines. She had found him passed out behind his desk many times. It was at these times that she was reminded that he was only two years out of his teens and suddenly had a tremendous weight on his shoulders. Every time she found him like that she would worry that the stress was getting to him and she would frown to herself and carry him back to his bed before retiring for herself. As much as she hated going to sleep alone she knew that Ryan needed the rest and she was immensely proud of everything that he was doing for his son and for the Commonwealth. She was suddenly broken from her thoughts by movement in the cavern.

"So you've finally woken up." A deep voice spoke. Piper looked for where the voice came from when a super mutant stepped out from the shadows, making her jump in surprise. "Relax, I'm not going to eat you if that's what you were thinking." He said, holding up a hand to placate her. "Forgive me for the rude welcome, but I was expecting the Institute not you two." He continued.

"If you know we're not Institute why keep us tied up?" Piper asked the mutant.

"Because you are still unknowns. How do I know that you won't try to kill me?" The mutant answered.

"You must be Virgil!" Piper realized.

"So you know who I am, why have you come here?" Virgil asked.

"We need your help. My friend Ryan, his sons been taken by the Institute, we need a way inside." She explained briefly, making Virgil frown.

"Hmm, I am sorry for your friend, but if you've come to me than that must mean you know about the teleportation grid." He replied after cutting her and Ryan loose.

"Yes, we figured that since you escaped the Institute you'd know how to get back inside." She explained hopefully.

"Yes, I might know a way but it will require a few things. First you'll need a Courser chip to hijack the frequency the Institute uses for the grid." He began.

"Coursers? Are those similar to the Stormtroopers?" Piper asked curiously.

This time it was Virgil's turn to be surprised. "You've heard of the Stormtroopers?" He asked.

"They attacked Rivet City about a month ago, we fought them off after I wounded their leader." She answered.

"You've fought A1-13 and her Stormtroopers and lived? Perhaps you can take down a Courser after all. Coursers are like the Institutes spies; they mostly track down runaway synths but they have been known to infiltrate settlements on occasion. The chip they have embedded in their skull always them to teleport to and from the Institute, you'll need to acquire one and decode it before moving on to the next part." Virgil explained.

"Once that's done you'll need to build an intercept relay, that's what will take you to the Institute. While you're out getting a Courser chip I'll write down the blue prints for the interceptor. Return here once you have the chip decoded and they'll be ready for you. You can use your friends Pip-boy to track the Courser, go to the C.I.T Ruins and tune into the Classical Radio station. The Institute uses it to hide their signal." He told Piper, who wrote down what he said in her notebook. "Thank you Virgil, this helps a lot." She thanked. "There's one more thing. When you get to the Institute go to the Bioscience lab. There's a serum there that can cure my condition. When I escaped I didn't have time to grab it, but you could do it for me as repayment for my help." He explained.

"Sure thing Virgil, it's the least we could do." Piper answered cheerily.

"Thank you, I do hope you find your friend's son unharmed." Virgil replied.

Piper gathered up her things before picking up Ryan, who was still unconscious, before turning to Virgil. "Before I forget, do you know anything about Nora…I mean A1-13 or her Stormtroopers that could help us in the future?" She asked. Virgil sighed before answering.

"So that's what she calls herself now. She was the first successful Gen-3 synth. I don't know why she was originally created, but there was an incident in which she killed some scientist's years ago. After that she became a Courser and eventually she created the Stormtrooper program to work alongside the Coursers. Since then they've done terrible things to the Commonwealth, as you've no doubt seen in Rivet City. Make no mistake, they are extremely dangerous. You and your friend are lucky that you survived your encounter with them, A1-13 knows how to hold a grudge and if she finds you again I have no doubt that she will do everything in her power to make you suffer for embarrassing her during that attack. With that being said it would be wise for you to avoid her and her troops at all costs. I wish you both the best of luck." He said.

Piper nodded before carrying Ryan back outside to the Humvee and placed him in the passenger's seat.

"What happened to him?" Danse called down from the turret.

"Hit his head pretty hard on some rocks, he'll be fine though." She lied.

"Did you find Virgil?" He asked.

"Yeah, he told me that we have to find a Courser and retrieve a chip from its head. I'll explain the rest once we're back at the Castle." She shouted up to him after climbing into the driver's seat. Once seated she started the Humvee and placed it in over drive. Piper took one last look at Virgil's cave before turning the Humvee around and putting as much distance as she could between them and the Glowing Sea.


	21. HunterHunted

After returning to the Castle Piper was finally able to wake Ryan, who remembered nothing after entering Virgil's cave in the Glowing Sea. To protect Virgil Piper maintained the lie that he had hit his head on some rocks after tripping and had been rendered unconscious. Although Ryan doubted that was all that had happened he shrugged it off and didn't press the issue further and looked over the instructions Piper had received from Virgil. Tracking down a Courser and recovering their chip would be interesting and Ryan went to his office to think about who would be best suited to accompany him on this mission. Piper would undoubtedly tag along as usual, she had a habit of nosing her way into everything, but he knew she just wanted to look out for him, which he was grateful for. Ashley would make a good choice, she had more combat experience than he did, even if her tactics weren't as refined as his were she would be a good person to have if they got into trouble and she had been waiting for a chance to strike at the Institute. Finally, he decided on bringing MacCready along as well, his accuracy with a rifle would be welcome addition to his team and in the event that Ryan went down he knew he could rely on him to take charge of the others and complete the mission. With his team assembled he went to inform them of the upcoming mission.

The next day Ryan and his team had made it to the C.I.T. Ruins and tuned into the radio frequency that hid the Institute's signal. After listening to the signal for a minute a faint beep could be heard and moving in a certain direction would increase or decrease how fast and loud it came through. The signal led Ryan and his friends East and towards the Greenetech Genetics building. Gun fire could be heard coming from inside and Ryan motioned for his friends to stack up on the door where he slung his M4 and shouldered his shotgun, knowing that the weapon would be extremely deadly in close quarters. After making sure his friends were ready Ryan steeped out from the stack and kicked the door inwards and stepped back as MacCready led the others inside while Ryan covered their rear flank before entering the building himself.

Inside the building they found that the Gunners were the ones being attacked by the Courser and they were taking massive casualties. A squad of Gunners had retreated into the building's lobby to attempt to flank the Courser but were surprised to run into Ryan's team who quickly shot them as they entered the lobby. From there training kicked in for Ryan and he began issuing orders to the others as he took point and led them through the building. Ryan was on autopilot, M.O.U.T. had always been his favorite training before Anchorage and his Platoon practiced it so much that moving through and clearing buildings became instinctual to him. Popping corners, kicking in doors, moving out of the fatal funnel, and dominating a corner of the room they were breaching were second nature to him and the others awed at how quickly he was moving through the building. Ryan's shotgun boomed as he popped another corner in one of the upper hallways and dropped another Gunner with a shot to the chest. The Gunner's Commander was frantically issuing orders over the intercom as his men were rapidly cut down by the Courser and Ryan's team. After clearing several floors, they reached an elevator and rode it up to the upper floor where they noticed that the fighting had stopped. They could hear who they assumed to be the Courser interrogating the few surviving Gunners. Ryan took point up the final flight of stairs and kicked the door open to see the Courser execute one of the Gunners.

As Ryan's team spread out the Courser turned from what he was doing and faced Ryan, uncaring that the newcomers had all their weapons trained on him. "You've been causing a lot of trouble for these Gunners, but it's obvious that you're not here for them, so why are you here? For me perhaps?" The Courser asked.

"Oh me, no I called early about some pizza…" Ryan replied sarcastically, making the others laugh and angering the Courser.

"I've no time for games, what do you want!?" The Courser sneered.

"You've got something in your head that we need." Ryan stated as he racked the pump on his shotgun.

"That's not going to happen." The Courser replied before activating a Stealth-Boy to cover his escape. Ryan fired his shotgun as soon as the Courser faded from view and struck him in the leg, leaving a trail of blood behind him. With the Courser crippled Ryan followed the blood and fired another shell into the Coursers back, severely wounding him and bringing him back into view. The Courser laid sprawled out on the floor as Ryan approached him, cycling another shell into his shotgun.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Finish it!" The Courser yelled at Ryan as he coughed up blood.

"As much as I'd like to, I think Ashley here deserves the honors." Ryan replied, nodding at Ashley.

"With pleasure." She replied with a smile as she loaded her AK-47 and pointed the muzzle at the Courser and fired a burst into his chest, killing him.

"Right, that's done. How do we get the chip?" Ashley asked once the Courser was dead.

"Easy." Ryan answered as he fired his shotgun at the Coursers head, splitting it open.

"Gross! Really Blue?" Piper asked, disgusted by the sight.

"What'd you have a better idea?" He asked after reaching down and retrieving the chip.

"No, but still that's disgusting." She shot back.

"Hey! If you two lovebirds are finished there's something you should see." MacCready butted in, pointing towards a makeshift cell. Inside stood a woman watching the them, clearly frightened by everything that had just happened.

"Right, let's get her out of there." Ryan said as he used his shotgun to blow the door's lock off. Seeing the door was open the woman ran out to thank them only to have Ryan point his shotgun at her. "Wow, back up there. Hands up and identify yourself." Ryan told her while keeping his weapon trained on her.

"Please don't shoot, I'm Jenny. Those Gunners captured me while I was traveling." She told him.

"Alright Jenny, why would they capture you?" Ryan asked.

"Because I'm a synth. The Institute wanted me back and told the Gunners they'd pay for me, but they sent that Courser instead." She answered to their surprise.

"You're a Synth!? Search her." Ryan ordered, keeping his weapon level. Ashley stepped forward and quickly patted her down, finding nothing.

"She's unarmed." She reported before stepping back.

"What do we do with her?" Piper asked, unsure of what was going to happen.

"I don't know. What do you plan on doing if I release you?" Ryan asked Jenny.

"I don't know, honestly. But I won't go back to the Institute!" She told him.

"Hmm, alright. You'll come with us, we're with the Minutemen and we're trying to shut the Institute down. Any Intel you can give us would be invaluable to our cause." Ryan informed her.

"And if I don't come with you?" Jenny asked skeptically.

"I can't allow you to walk away, there's to many unknowns. You come with us or I shut you down here, you're choice." Ryan warned.

"Well, when you put it that way… I accept your offer, on the condition that once the Institute is gone you let me go." Jenny replied.

"Fair enough, MacCready secure her." Ryan ordered, lowering his shotgun while MacCready grabbed Jenny by the arm and led her outside. He then handed the Courser chip over to Piper. "You and Ashley take the chip to the Railroad, they're the only ones that I can think of with the ability to decode what's on there. MacCready and I'll will take Jenny back to the Castle and have Preston question her for information on the Institute. Afterwards we'll head back out to the Glowing Sea and get the plans from Virgil. Once that's done we'll regroup at the Castle and begin the next part of the plan." He informed her.

"Alright, we'll get it done Blue, you can count on us." She replied with a smile.

"I know you will, be safe alright?" He told her. Piper could sense his concern and she quickly surprised him with a kiss.

"For luck." She told him after breaking the kiss. Ryan smiled happily and nodded before kissing her again.

"See you on the other side." He said before he turned and followed MacCready back outside to return to the Castle.

"Well, you heard him. Let's get out of here." Ashley said as she walked towards the exit, kicking the Courser's body as she walked by.

"Right behind ya." Piper replied, following her cousin outside. Piper smiled to herself, they were one step closer to getting into the Institute and ending this whole thing. She looked forward to when she and Ryan could live their lives together without the Institute interfering in their lives ever again.


	22. The Institute Strikes Back

Back at the Castle Ryan and MacCready handed Jenny over to Preston for questioning before donning hazmat suits and hopping into a Humvee to make the return to Virgil's cave in the Glowing Sea. Since he knew where the cave was the journey took less time than it had before and by the afternoon they had made it to the large crater. To their surprise however, smoke was billowing out of the crater. They exited the Humvee and climbed up the side of the crater to see that the cult village inside was burning. Going into the village revealed that the cultists had been killed by blasts from a laser weapon. Ryan and MacCready looked at each other knowingly, the only groups with access to laser weapons and the ability to traverse the hazards of the Glowing Sea were the Brotherhood of Steel and the Institute, and Ryan severely doubted the Brotherhood would commit such a heinous crime against civilians, leaving the Institute as the only suspects.

"This isn't good, if the Institute followed us here they must have found Virgil's cave!" Ryan exclaimed, as he and MacCready ran out of the crater and back to the Humvee.

"Well let's not stand around and wait to find out!" MacCready replied as he ran after Ryan. They climbed back into the Humvee and drove past the crater and towards Virgil's cave.

Once around the crater they arrived just in time to see an Institute assault transport fly past them and back towards the Commonwealth. "Shit we need to get in there!" Ryan yelled as he and MacCready jumped from the Humvee and ran inside the cave. Inside they found Virgil's room was destroyed and scorch marks littered the walls. "Virgil! You alive!?" Ryan shouted, looking for any signs of him. A groan was the only response he got and Ryan found Virgil lying on the ground holding his stomach. "Shit! Hang on I've got you!" Ryan yelled as he ran to Virgil and tried to render aid. Virgil waved him off and pointed to his desk. Ryan looked to where he was pointing and found several sheets of paper with designs on them and he realized they must be the plans that they would need to build the interceptor. Ryan grabbed the papers and stuffed them in his pocket before returning to Virgil. "Come on, I've got to get you out of here." He told the mutant as he tried to stand him up.

"No… it's too late for me… the Stormtroopers made sure of that. Take the blueprints…stop them…save your son…" He muttered before dying.

"Hey, we need to get back to the Castle. Piper and Ash should be back by now and we need to make these bastards pay." MacCready told him.

"Yeah…let's get out of here." He replied. The two left the cave and climbed back into the Humvee and headed back to the Castle. Despite Virgil's death they still had his blueprints, ultimately meaning the mission was successful. All they needed now was the decoded Intel on the Courser chip.

* * *

Piper and Ashley's mission was going much smoother. They had gone to the Railroad and met with their leadership; Deacon had managed to calm things down for them and once they showed them they had a Courser chip they were more than eager to help decode it in exchange for a copy of whatever was on it. Piper had agreed to their terms and she and Ashley were currently waiting for the Railroad's tech guy, Tinker Tom, to finish decoding the chip when Deacon approached them.

"So, how'd you guys manage to kill a Courser and get away unharmed?" He asked.

"Wasn't that hard, bastard tried to run from us but three Twelve Gauge slugs and a burst from my AK brought him down. Asshole was trying to recapture a run-away synth from some Gunner's when we found him." Ashley answered, shrugging it off as if she had done it a thousand times.

"Wow, pretty hard core. What'd you do with the runaway?" Piper noticed that the members of the Railroad had heard Deacon's question and were listening intently for their answer.

"Ryan and MacCready took her back to the Castle, she's giving us Intel on the Institute in exchange for protection. Once the Institute's gone she'll be free to go." Ashley answered again to Deacon's approval.

"That's cool, not a lot of people would help a synth like that. I'm glad the Minutemen are willing to help synths as well as normal folk." Deacon commented. As he finished talking Tinker Tom informed them that the Courser chip had been successfully decoded and that he was making the copies now. Once the copies were made Piper took their copy and thanked Deacon for his help before she and Ashley turned for the exit. As they were doing so Tinker Tom started panicking at his terminal.

"Oh no, oh no, not good! Shit!" He cried.

"What is it Tom?" Desdemona asked the man as he typed frantically on his keyboard.

"The Institute, they've found us!" He told her. No sooner had he said that did an explosion go off overhead, collapsing the old church on top of them.

Piper pushed the rubble off of herself and looked up through the large hole that had been created and saw two Institute assault transports hovering overhead. Stormtroopers rappelled down from their transports and into the Railroads HQ. The Railroad members that hadn't been buried attempted to fire at the troopers but were quickly cut down by laser fire. She was about to fire back at the Stormtroopers when Ashley grabbed her wrist.

"We have to go now!" She cried as she pulled Piper toward an exit.

"We can't just leave them!" Piper shouted back, not wanting to leave the Railroad to the Institute's mercy.

"There's no time! We stay and we're dead!" Ashley countered. Piper didn't have time to argue further as two Stormtroopers aimed their weapons at them. "Don't move!" One shouted, aiming his weapon at Piper's face. Before they could attempt to run more Stormtroopers moved to block their escape. With no choice they both put their hands up in surrender. Piper saw the other Stormtroopers rounding up the surviving members of the Railroads leadership and moving them onto the transports.

"What do we do with them Sir?" One trooper asked.

"Stand by, searching database." The Stormtrooper Commander answered waving a device in front of the two.

 _Scanning…_

 _Identities Confirmed_

 _Wright, Piper_

 _DeLoria, Ashley_

The device read to the Commander. "Bring them along as well, A1-13 will want to deal with them personally." The Commander ordered. The troopers than stripped the two of their weapons and bound their arms behind their backs.

"Move it, Waster scum!" One trooper shouted at Piper, shoving her forward with the muzzle of his rifle. With her hands bound Piper had no way to stop her fall and she landed hard on the floor, causing the holotape that contained the Intel on it to fall from her coat. Ashley attempted to lash out at the trooper that had shoved her cousin only to received a butt stroke to her abdomen for her trouble. Piper was yanked to her feet by another trooper and forced into an awaiting transport along with Ashley and the surviving Railroad leadership.

With their targets captured the Stormtroopers returned to their transports after making sure that no one was left. The transports lifted off and flew away from the Railroad's HQ. Inside the transport Piper shivered in fear, realizing that her worst nightmare was becoming a reality and that Ryan wasn't here to save her. All she knew is that she and her cousin were going to be left to the mercy of the most dangerous woman in the Commonwealth…

* * *

 **FYI, I do know what a space bar is! I believe you were referring to the enter key by the way, ya know the one that actually puts vertical space between sentences. As for legibility I believe those chapters could be read just fine as they were but I have gone back and edited them as was so elegantly suggested.**

 **Criticism is valued but in the future please keep it professional.**

 **While I am not against swearing, as a Marine I will treat each of you with respect and that includes keeping my language in check when addressing you as I am now and I expect the same in return.**

 **Seriously criticism is just as welcome as compliments, all I ask is that it be respectable.**

 **If you absolutely feel the need to swear at me please message me directly.**

 **Thanks!**

 **Semper Fidelis**

 **-StormTrooper96**


	23. Missing In Action

Ryan and MacCready returned to the Castle a day later. After debriefing Preston on what had happened in the Glowing Sea Ryan gave Virgil's designs for the interceptor relay to Preston who promised to bring in the best engineers he could to begin constructing the device. With the plans secure they just needed to wait on Piper and Ashley to return with the decoded Courser chip to finish the interceptor and begin planning their next course of action. Ryan was confident that Piper would have no trouble on her end, she and Ashley knew how to handle themselves, but after a day with no contact from either of them he began to worry.

"Any word from Piper or Ashley?" Ryan asked Preston after they finished eating chow.

"Nothing yet, I'm starting to worry about them. What if the Railroads double crossed us?" Preston answered, voicing his concern.

"I don't think they're the type to do that, but your right, somethings off. Gather MacCready and Danse and meet me at the MRAP in ten minutes, we're going to pay a visit to the Railroad." Ryan ordered.

"Aye aye Sir." Preston responded before running off to grab the others.

After Preston was gone Ryan headed to the armory and retrieved his M4 carbine. Placing the weapon on a workbench he retrieved an M203 40mm grenade launcher and set to work fixing it onto his carbine. If anyone had harmed Piper, he would make them pay severely and the launcher combined with his carbine would give him the firepower needed to kill anyone or anything that stood in his way. With the launcher securely attached to his weapon he headed back outside to the MRAP and met the others. The four of them climbed into the large armored vehicle and drove out of the Castle and into the city towards the Railroads HQ. After traversing the city, they came across the blown out ruins of the Old North Church, which housed the Railroads HQ beneath it. They climbed out of the MRAP and observed the destruction.

"This looks recent, a day old at least." Danse commented, observing the dying embers left over from the explosion.

"Institute must have beaten us here too, just like at Virgil's cave." MacCready added, noting the bodies killed by lasers that had been left behind.

"Fuck. Alright let's get in there and see if anything's salvageable." Ryan ordered as he jumped through the large hole into the basement. Ryan scanned his surroundings as he walked through the rubble and his heart stopped in his chest when he came across an M45 and AK-47 lying on the ground. "Over here!" He yelled, getting the others attention as he picked up a holotape lying near the discarded weapons. They ran to see what Ryan had found and they stopped in their tracks when they saw their friend's weapons lying in the rubble.

"Aw shit. They were here when the Institute attacked, they must have taken them!" Preston exclaimed.

"What about the Intel. Without that data we can't get to the Institute and we'll never see them again!" MacCready shouted.

"Well there's some good news, Piper and Ashley managed to get the chip decoded, it's all here on this holotape." Ryan replied, holding up the holotape for them to see. "Come on, there's nothing more we can do here." Ryan said, pocketing the holotape and walking back to the MRAP. He was about to climb up to the driver's seat when MacCready called out to him.

"Hey man, you ok?" He asked, voicing concern for his friend, who didn't even seem slightly upset that his girlfriend and her cousin had just been taken. Ryan sighed as he stepped down from the MRAP and faced his friend.

"Honestly, not really. Those Institute assholes have kidnapped my son, mocked my wife, and now they've taken the one person that kept my head on straight during all this. Forgive me if I'm sounding heartless but I'm not doing Piper or Ashley any good if I'm sitting around crying about this when I could be taking action. Believe me I'm worried sick about them, but there's nothing I can do until we find a way into the Institute." Ryan told him. MacCready nodded his head understandingly and patted Ryan's shoulder.

"I hear ya man, just remember we're all here for you. Now let's get back so we can take these Institute bastards down and rescue our friends!" MacCready shouted, bringing Ryan's spirits up.

"You're right, let's get moving. We should head to Diamond City and let Piper's sister know what happened, with Piper gone there's no one left to guard her and I'm worried that the Institute will try and get her as well now that they have Piper." Ryan said.

The four climbed back into the MRAP and left the destroyed Railroad HQ behind them. When they arrived at Diamond City they were relieved to see that everything looked to be normal in the city. Ryan parked the MRAP outside the city's gate and lead the others inside. Nat wasn't at her usual spot trying to sell papers and Ryan figured she must be in school. The four headed to the school and walked inside, surprising the class with their sudden appearance.

"Ryan? What are you doing here? Where's Piper?" Nat asked once she saw who had barged in.

"Nat, you need to come with us right now." Ryan answered, looking at the teacher to see if he would try to stop him from taking her. When he didn't Ryan grabbed Nat's things and led the girl outside and towards the gates.

"Wait! What's going on!?" Nat asked again, stopping before the gates.

Ryan turned and sighed and knelt down so he was eye level with her before answering. "Nat, Piper's gone. She and Ashley were out getting intel from the Railroad when the Institute attacked. They leveled the Railroad's HQ and took their leadership hostage, including Ashley and your sister…"

Nat shook her head in disbelief. "No, That's not true! Your lying!" She yelled.

Ryan shook his head sadly in response. "I wish it wasn't true either, but it is." He replied, placing a comforting hand on the girls shoulder.

Seeing how serious he was caused Nat to realize that what he was saying was true and tears began to form in her eyes. "Why? Why did they take her? Why weren't you there to protect her? You said you would always keep her safe and you didn't!" She yelled at him. Nat's words hurt Ryan more than any bullet could and he dropped his hand from her shoulder in shock. He'd accepted his failures many times before but never had he seen the effects they had on others until now and he found himself crying with her.

"I know; I should have gone with her. I'm the one who told her to go, it's my fault she's gone. I fucked up and she paid for it." Ryan cried, hating himself for his poor judgment. Some General he'd turned out to be. "But I promise you I will do everything in my power to bring your sister back. It's not safe for you here anymore, I'm bringing you back to the Castle for now, ok?"

Ryan stood and led Nat to the MRAP and helped her climb into the back before getting into the driver's seat and starting the vehicle. The trip back to the Castle was uncomfortably quiet and when they arrived Nat jumped out of the MRAP and ran to one of the empty rooms, locking herself inside before anyone could catch her. Ryan told the others to leave her be for the meantime and retired to his quarters for the night. Construction on the interceptor relay would begin in the morning and Ryan looked forward to its completion. Now he had two reasons to find them and blow them all to hell.

* * *

 **Ask for a glossary and thou shall receive one**

 **Items appear in the order they were first seen**

 **ACOG: Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight, 4x scope attached to the M16/M4 weapons.**

 **Carbine: A shortened weapon. Ex: The M4 is a carbine variant of the M16A2.**

 **MARPAT: Marine pattern. Digital desert or woodland camouflage on the combat utility uniform.**

 **FOB: Forward Operating Base.**

 **Doughnut Charge: An explosive charge made with Det-cord, Time fuse, and a blasting cap. Used to defeat locked doors.**

 **.50 CAL API: .50 Caliber Armor Piercing Incendiary.**

 **VTOL: Vertical Take-Off and Landing.**

 **MCB: Marine Corps Base.**

 **DOD: Department of Defense.**

 **ASP: Ammo Supply Point.**

 **7-Ton: Military flatbed truck converted to carry troops/ equipment.**

 **MRAP: Mine Resistant Ambush Protected. MRAPs are used in route clearance operations; their V-shaped hulls deflect explosive blasts away from the vehicle. The MRAP used here is an MRAP CAT II Cougar 6x6.**

 **RPG: Rocket Propelled Grenade. The RPG-7 is the go to RPG for movies/ videogames.**

 **M.O.U.T.: Military Operations in Urban Terrain. Military tactics used to combat the enemy in an urban environment. Ex: Clearing buildings, moving through cities.**

 **Fatal Funnel: Stopping in a doorway while breaching a room is being caught in the fatal funnel. When breaching it is important to clear the doorway ASAP to prevent being caught in the fatal funnel.**

 **That's all for now, definitions on other uncommon terms will be added as needed.**


	24. Orientation

While in route to the Institute the Stormtroopers had bound their prisoners and covered their heads with cloth sacks to deny them any visuals of what was going on. Surrounded in complete darkness Ashley could only try to make out what was going on around her although she couldn't hear much over the sound of the transports engines. After what seemed like an eternity later she felt the transport slow and heard its landing gear make contact with the ground. Once the ramp was lowered she was suddenly pulled up and drug out of the transport by one of the Stormtroopers and lead somewhere else. Ashley could tell from the footsteps behind her that the other prisoners were being led to the same place she was. Suddenly she was stopped and forced back onto her knees after receiving a shove from a trooper's muzzle.

"These are the ones recovered from the Church?" A female voice asked one of the troopers. Though Ashley couldn't see with her eyes she would have to guess that the voice belonged to Nora.

"Yes Ma'am. We have confirmed the identities of the Railroads leadership as well as two of Anderson's companions. They were in possession of a Courser chip and were attempting to extract data from it when we intercepted the signal and attacked." The trooper reported.

"Good work Captain. Unmask the prisoners." The female ordered.

The sack over Ashley's head was then quickly removed, blinding her momentarily before her vision returned to normal. With her vision normal again Ashley took in her surroundings and found herself and the others in a small, windowless room. She caught sight of Piper to her immediate right and noticed that she was absolutely terrified. Stormtroopers stood at attention around the room keeping a close eye on their prisoners and she had been correct in guessing the woman's identity. Nora stood a few feet away from them with the Stormtrooper Captain who had led the attack on the Railroads HQ. Nora dismissed the Captain and clapped her hands before smiling at the prisoners.

"So, you all make up the Railroad. I must admit I have been waiting to meet you all for some time. And would you look at this…" She begun to say as she paced in front of them and stopped in front of Ashley and Piper. "… Piper Wright and Ashley DeLoria. So good to see you two again." She said with a grin.

"Fuck. You. You murdered my family you bitch!" Ashley shouted angrily at her.

"Now now Ashley. I did warn you what would happen once you refused to cooperate with me, and if it's any consolation I didn't personally kill your family. But that's all in the past, you're here now and that's all that matters." Nora replied, unfazed by Ashley's outburst. She then looked at Piper and noticed that the usually talkative reporter hadn't said a word and had begun to visibly shake nervously.

"What's your deal, Huh?" Nora asked, but Piper didn't respond to her. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" Nora shouted, unused to being ignored. When Piper didn't answer again Nora quickly slapped her across the face to get her attention. Ashley would have jumped at Nora at any other time but doing so now would only result in the Stormtroopers guarding the room shooting her. Piper however had come to her senses after being slapped and stared at Nora. "I'll ask again, what's your deal?" Nora repeated.

"N-nothing." Piper stuttered.

"Good." Nora replied bluntly.

"What are you going to do with us?" Desdemona asked, hoping to turn the topic to being relevant again. Nora stepped away from Piper and Ashley and turned to face the Railroads leader.

"What does anyone do when they capture their enemies? You will be interrogated…tortured…and then you will die." Nora answered casually as she paced in front of them again. "Troopers escort my guests to their quarters until I have need of them." Nora ordered before turning back to Ashley. "Oh yes, we will be spending a lot of time together, you and I, though I doubt you'll find it as enjoyable as I will." She said before turning on her heel and leaving the room.

Before Ashley could even process what was happening a sack was once again thrown over her head and she found herself being dragged out of the room and further into the Institute.


	25. Extermination

Two weeks had gone by since the Institute had captured Piper and Ashley along with the Railroad HQ. In that time, they had been subjected to numerous interrogation sessions conducted by Nora and her Stormtrooper officers. Nora's interrogation methods were brutal, and she later revealed to Ashley in one of her sessions that she had studied interrogation techniques used by the C.I.A before the war. As such she subjected her prisoners to being beaten by her Stormtroopers or cut them open herself with surgical instruments. In some instances, she would subject them to waterboarding for her own entertainment. After several of these sessions Nora had learned everything there was to know about the Railroad and had dispatched squads of Stormtroopers to eliminate the remaining Railroad safe houses scattered across the Commonwealth.

As for the Minutemen, Nora had learned their plans from her sessions with Piper. The Reporter had resisted Nora's interrogations for as long as she could but eventually she cracked and told Nora how far along they were in building the intercept relay. Ashley couldn't blame her cousin though, she understood that Piper had never had to endure anything like this before in her life and realized that in an effort to help Ryan she had transitioned from a civilian to a soldier to quickly and didn't have the experience that she and Ryan had to build up their mental fortitude which Nora had exploited to her advantage. With the Railroad gone and the Minutemen's plans known, Ashley didn't have much hope in the success of their mission.

Nora took a different interest in Ashley however, preferring to talk with her instead of interrogating and torturing her. Their conversations mostly consisted of Ashley's adventures after leaving Vault 101, more specifically the war between the Brotherhood of Steel and the Enclave. Ashley found it odd that Nora would take an interest in her past but she saw no harm in telling her what had happened. She would spend hours talking about her exploits while Nora listened intently and politely ask questions throughout her tales which Ashley would answer in kind. Ashley found it funny at how nice Nora was when talking with her and she would sometimes forget that the woman was responsible for committing heinous acts against herself and others. She would even entertain the idea that had they met in another life they could have been friends. Still she knew deep down that Nora was a ruthless murder and that despite her friendliness towards her now she could easily have her and Piper killed whenever she wanted as long as they remained her prisoners.

* * *

It was around noon when the door to Ashley and Piper's quarters opened and two Stormtroopers walked in. Ashley, being protective of her cousin, stepped between them and Piper to prevent them from taking her again but was surprised when they grabbed her arms instead and escorted her out of the room. The troopers led her down the hall and into the interrogation room where they sat her down in one of the chairs. Ashley was puzzled as to why she was here, Nora had already obtained everything she wished to know and she had shown no signs of wanting to torture them anymore.

Ashley was broken from her thoughts when the door opened again and Nora walked in. Ashley watched her as she walked past her and sat in the chair opposite her. Nora glanced at her briefly before placing a red, green, and blue item on the table in front of her and Ashley eyed them curiously, wondering what their purpose was.

"Care to take a guess as to why I've brought you here today?" Nora asked once she was down placing the cards down.

Ashley looked up at her and replied. "I assume it has something to do with those items."

"Yes, but we'll get to their purpose in a minute. As you no doubt know I have been successful in my interrogations, the surviving Railroad safe houses are being destroyed and the surviving members being brought here. That being said, there is no more information that I require from them, their leaders, or the synths they were attempting to help flee and I have yet to decide what to do with them, bringing us to these items that I have placed before you." Nora told her.

"You want me to decide what to do with your prisoners?" Ashley asked.

"In a matter of speaking. Each item represents a different portion of the Railroads infrastructure. The red one represents the Synths in their possession, the blue one represents the Railroads leadership, and finally the green one represents both groups combined. You've had to make difficult choices in the past and I want to see what you'll do in this scenario for myself." Nora explained to her.

"So whatever item I pick will determine that groups fate?"

"Yes. Choose the red one and all the Synths will be destroyed, but the human members will be left alive and kept as laborers. Pick the Blue one and the Railroads leadership will die while the Synths are reprogrammed to become a part of the Institute again. Should you choose the green one, the entirety of the Railroad will be destroyed. The decision is yours."

"So your telling me that each of these will have a different outcome even though their pretty much the same thing with a different color and my decision won't really matter in the end regardless of what I choose?" Ashley asked, questioning the logic behind whatever test Nora was doing.

Nora looked up in thought for a moment before responding. "Pretty much yeah." She replied bluntly.

"And what if I refuse to pick one." Ashley challenged.

"If you refuse I'll have you and your cousin killed slowly while I watch and laugh. You have no attachment to the Railroad and knowing you I believe you'd do anything to protect your family. I'll tell you what, pick one and I'll let the both of you go free."

"Why? Wouldn't that make it harder for you to stop us?"

"Perhaps, but I like a good challenge every once in a while. Besides things are about to change around here and having you two here will distract me from what I have to do."

Ashley sighed and looked back down at the items in front of her. Nora was right, she would do anything to protect her family. She carefully weighed her options but saw no outcome in which the Railroad wouldn't be severely damaged. Finally, she decided that since they wouldn't be able to rebuild regardless of her choice she picked the green one, condemning the entire organization. She hated herself for this and hated Nora even more for putting her in this position but Ashley knew that the Synth would get what was coming to her eventually.

"Green huh? Interesting choice. Now that that's settled you may return to your quarters." Nora told her before Ashley was escorted back to her quarters by the two Stormtrooper guards.

* * *

The next day she and Piper were brought to a large room where Nora had the Railroad gathered, Stormtroopers armed with automatic shotguns and heavy repeating laser canons where formed up between them and the Railroad. Nora stood with Ashley and Piper and held a microphone in her hand which she used to address the crowd and broadcast throughout the Institute.

"Today marks a glorious day for the Institute. The Railroad, which has been a thorn in side for years, has finally come to an end thanks to the efforts of our Stormtrooper Corps. With these radicals defeated we are free to continue our research without delay and are one step closer to bringing humanity into the future. But we could not have brought an end to the Railroad without the misguided efforts of Ashley DeLoria and Piper Wright. Without them we would have never been able to track them to their lair, and for that I thank them. Now we will witness the destruction of the Railroad and the end of their pitiful ignorance."

On Que the Stormtroopers raised their weapons and fired into crowd of Railroad members. With nowhere to run the Railroad members were slaughtered as the troopers emptied their weapons into them without pause. Piper looked away, unable to watch knowing that she was partially responsible for what was happening while Nora smirked with amusement as her troopers gunned down their prisoners. Ashley however forced herself to look, knowing that she was responsible for the massacre taking place in front of her. While Nora had made her choose she was ultimately responsible for the destruction of the Railroad. Finally, the troopers stopped firing after the Railroad members were full of holes and completely unrecognizable.

Ashley and Piper were then led to an assault transport which took them to the surface, dropping them off close to Sanctuary before returning to the Institute. Ashley sighed as she watched the transport depart, that whole ordeal had been horrible and she was even more confused about Nora now than ever. Ashley knew that Nora was a despicable and evil person but having had several civil conversations with her made Ashley wonder if Nora wasn't always the ruthless person she was now. Regardless she was still the person responsible for the murder of her family and Ashley would do everything in her power to make her pay for what she's done. But before anything could be done they had to get back to the Castle. Ashley looked Piper over and noted the bruises over her body, and figuring her mental state was as bruised as her body she was in no condition to travel far without a few days' recovery. Sanctuary wasn't far so Ashley picked up Piper and carefully threw her over her shoulders to carry her to the settlement where they would rest for a few days before returning to the Castle. One thing kept bothering Ashley however, Nora had told her that the Institute was about to change and she feared what she had implied by that. Was Nora planning a coup against whoever ran the Institute? If so things would get a whole lot worse for them before anything got better.

* * *

 **Yes I did just poke fun at Mass Effect's ending (love those games.)**

 **As for the Sole Survivor being a bit immature, he's a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps. That should be enough to explain his supposed immaturity. (Look up LCPL on Urban Dictionary for an accurate description.)**

 **And finally the A113/Pixar reference was completely unintentional, I just BS'd Nora's designation for the sake of giving her one.**


	26. Rebirth

While making the trip to Sanctuary, Ashley and Piper ran into small patrol of soldiers passing through the Red Rocket gas station. Ashley noticed the Soldiers were all wearing woodland MARPAT fatigues and carrying M16 rifles. At first she had mistaken them for Gunners until she realized that they showed no signs of hostility towards her or Piper. Once the Soldiers realized who they were they rushed to them and, noticing Piper's condition quickly took her off Ashley's hands. As some of them tended to Piper the patrol leader approached Ashley and introduced himself.

"Ma'am, Corporal Perez, Alpha Company." The Soldier reported with a salute.

"At ease Corporal. You with the Minutemen?" Ashley asked.

Corporal Perez looked at her for a moment confused before shaking his head.

"Yes and No Ma'am. After you and Miss Wright went missing General Anderson continued our military buildup and ordered several reforms. One of his first reforms was reorganizing the Minutemen into the Marine Corps from before the war. I'm not sure of the rest, but I'm sure one of the officers could tell you more." The Corporal explained to her.

Ashley looked surprised, she had overheard Ryan talking about the Marine Corps of old but never had she imagined that he would bring back the pre-war military branch. From what Ashley had learned in her history classes back at Vault 101, the Marine Corps was the smallest but deadliest branch of the U.S. Military and had participated in every conflict America had participated in with impressive results. Having seen Ryan in action only proved what she had learned to be true. Having more Marines around could only be a good thing.

"That's… amazing. Look we need to get back to the Castle ASAP. Can you get us there?"

"We have comms back at Sanctuary. The LT can radio for a Humvee to come pick you two up by tomorrow. We'll take you there now Ma'am." The Corporal replied.

"Thank you Corporal, lead the way." Ashley thanked, breathing a sigh of relief.

"Don't mention it Ma'am. A Company form up, we're moving out!" Corporal Perez shouted to his squad, who quickly formed a protective formation around Ashley and Piper.

* * *

After a night's rest at Sanctuary and couple hours ride in the back of a Humvee, Ashley and Piper were finally back at the Castle. Preston, now dressed in woodland MARPAT with Colonel rank on his collar, and Nat were there to meet them. Nat ran to Piper once she saw her and hugged her excitedly, Piper returned the embrace but kept a neutral expression on her face and didn't say anything back to her sister. Ashley instantly grew worried, Piper had been unusually quiet the whole time they had been captured but she figured she would snap out of it once they got back to the Castle, but seeing her show next to no reaction upon seeing her sister made her worry about her cousin's mental state.

"I understand that you two have been through hell these past weeks, but General Anderson will want to debrief you guys personally when he gets back. Until then I suggest you get some food in you and rest up." Preston told them as they walked through the Castle.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Why don't you come with us and explain all these reforms Ryan's ordered?" Ashley asked, hoping to figure out what had changed since they've been gone.

"Sure thing, after you ladies." Preston agreed happily.

After getting their food and finding a seat in the chow hall Preston begun to explain everything that had happened.

"The General was in a really bad mood the night we found out you two had been taken. He locked himself in his room and refused to come out, we were all worried he would do something stupid but when he come out in the morning the first thing he did was call all of us into a meeting. He said that while the Minutemen had improved the Commonwealth they weren't enough to combat all the enemies we face on their own, that's when he ordered the Minutemen be reorganized into the Marine Corps. Every Minutemen was recalled to the Castle and given the option to remain on as Marines for a four-year term or return to civilian life. As expected they all accepted and were given rank appropriate to their time in service." Preston begun.

"Next he ordered Spectacle Island be transformed into a training ground for new recruits and tasked several officers to recruit people from our settlements. Gunnery Sergeant MacCready oversees their training over at Spectacle Island. Since we're in need of as many Marines as possible, recruits are taught shooting and squad tactics in an accelerated month long course, further training is given once they arrive at their assigned units." He continued.

"Besides recruitment we're also building up our weapons and vehicles. We've cleared the Corvega plant of raiders and the Brotherhood has helped us set up the plant to produce more Humvees and weapons, while Codsworth has been working tirelessly making these new uniforms for everybody. Lastly we've stepped up security at the settlements, you've already ran into one of the patrols that we run around Sanctuary's perimeter. I Believe the General wanted to have you talk with Diamond City and Goodneighbor to set up relations with them as well, see if they would recognize us as a legitimate military and provide us funds and supplies." Preston told Piper.

"Yeah I could do that, once I talk to Ryan of course." Piper replied quietly. Preston noted that this was the first time Piper had talked since he saw her and worried about her.

"I know he's going to be glad to see you in one piece, he really does care about you and was worried sick about you." Preston told her, trying to cheer the reporter up, but she only frowned in response. Piper had been so caught up in being afraid that she wouldn't see Ryan again that she hadn't thought about what affect her kidnapping would have on him.

With nothing else to cover Piper excused herself and walked to her room in the Castle with Nat close behind her. Nat was also worried about Piper, she wasn't acting like herself and it scared her. She didn't bother asking Piper about what had happened, figuring that she would talk about it when she was good and ready, but from the way she was acting Nat figured that whatever the Institute had done to her had been traumatic in some way. Hopefully once she saw Ryan she would get over whatever was bothering her and get back to being her old self once again.

"Piper, are you okay?" Nat asked once her sister had gotten undressed and laid in her bed.

"I…I don't know." Piper whispered in response, her treatment at Nora's hands still fresh in her mind.

"Can I do anything to help you?" The girl asked and Piper saw how worried she was by looking into her eyes. The two had been through a lot together ever since their parents died, usually Piper was the one to provide comfort in times of need, she was always the one that would tell Nat that everything would be alright, but now it was Nat's turn to be there for her sister and take care of her while she dealt with the aftermath of her ordeal.

"Just sit here with me Nat." Piper told her, scooting over in the bed to make space for her. Nat climbed up onto the bed and snuggled close to her sister before embracing her again.

"I was so scared when Ryan told me what happened. I didn't want to believe it… I thought for sure I'd never see you again!" Nat cried.

"It's ok Nat, I'm here. Don't worry about me anymore, I'll be fine again and I won't leave you like that ever again." Piper said comfortingly.

"Promise?" Nat said, looking into her sister's eyes.

"I promise, never again." Piper repeated before hugging her sister again. It would take some time but Piper would get through this, and when she did she would be back at Ryan's side helping him bring down the Institute and securing peace for the Commonwealth.


	27. Welcome Back

Ryan got back to the Castle early the next morning after a successful mission to gather components needed to finish the intercept relay. A few more scavenging runs and the Marines would have all the materials needed to complete the complex device. He had gone over the designs for the relay, but even being a Combat Engineer they were too complicated for him to understand without help. That being said he left the actual construction to his more technologically inclined Marines while he led the runs to gather the needed components. This last run, while successful, had been extremely boring without his friends to keep him company. MacCready, who had opted for an enlisted rank over an officer's commission, was training recruits at Spectacle Island while Preston was busy overseeing the Marines day to day affairs in Ryan's place. Paladin Danse had returned to the Brotherhood to act as a liaison between the two groups and help coordinate joint operations.

Walking out of the armory after stowing away his weapons, Ryan was greeted by Preston running up to him. Ryan found that odd, Preston never actively sought him out unless something urgent was happening. Knowing this Ryan gave Preston his full attention once he reached him.

"Preston, what's going on!?" Ryan asked concerned.

"Sir, you'll never believe it! Piper and Ashley are back!" Preston informed him excitedly. It took a moment for Ryan to process Preston's words but when they did he was ecstatic.

"What!? How? When?!" Ryan asked excitedly.

"They got back yesterday, one of our security patrols picked them up out by Sanctuary the day before and radioed us. I don't know how they escaped yet, I figured you'd want to debrief them personally so I let them rest once they got here, but whatever happened to them wasn't good." Preston answered.

"Were they seriously injured?" Ryan asked. He hated thinking that Piper had gotten hurt without him there to help her.

"Nothing serious from the looks of it, but it's obvious that the Institute used extreme methods to get information out of them. Ashley seemed fine last time I saw her, but Piper was being unusually quiet. Something's got her shaken up." Replied Preston.

Piper was a strong person, but she wasn't used to being placed under extreme circumstances like the others. If Ryan had to guess, Piper's fear of the Institute along with whatever methods Nora had used to interrogate her had gotten to her and she may be suffering from a mild case of PTSD. Ryan knew what that was like all too well and he would make sure to help her get through it before it got worse.

"Alright, I'm going to go see Piper now. Tell Ash that I'll be ready for her debrief in my office by 1500." Ryan told Preston before heading towards the barracks.

"Aye aye Sir." Preston replied with a salute.

* * *

Ryan walked into Piper's quarters to find her and Nat asleep on the bed. He quietly walked over to the bed and smiled with tears in his eyes as he placed his hand on Piper's shoulder. Ryan cared deeply for her, but during her kidnapping he had come to realize that he loved her and her absence left a hole in him that pained him greatly. To finally see her again, alive and well, was a great relief to him. Ryan felt Piper stir and quickly removed his hand from her shoulder, only to have her wake when she noticed her absence.

"Ryan?" Piper asked sleepily as she looked at him.

"Yeah, it's me. It's ok, your safe now." Ryan whispered to her so as not to wake Nat up.

Seeing that Ryan was really there, Piper leapt into his arms and wept. "Oh Ryan, it was awful! The things they did to us, and the Railroad, Ryan they killed them all!" She cried.

"I know, I know." Ryan soothed.

"They gunned them all down right in front of us! It's my fault, if I hadn't gone to them they might still be alive!" She continued.

"Hey none of that. They knew the risks they were taking and we had no way of knowing what would happen. Without them we wouldn't be able to take the fight to them. We'll honor their sacrifice by winning this war." He said comfortingly.

"The Institute's been around for as long as I can remember, do you really think we can beat them?" Piper asked doubtfully.

"They may have been around for a while but the Marine Corps been around a lot longer than them and we'll be around long after they're gone. Do you know why I brought back the Marine Corps? It's because Marines get shit done despite the odds, we do what whole armies can't, and we never back down. You're right to have doubt in your mind, but know that should we fail we'll take as many of those bastards as we can down to Hell with us, I promise you that." Ryan said proudly.

"Ha, hearing you say that makes me want to believe it. I'm with you Ryan, until the end." She replied confidently.

"Glad to hear it. I'll let you get back to sleep; we can continue this conversation when you're up to it." Ryan told her.

"Just promise me you'll be here when I wake up, ok?" Piper asked, worried that he might leave her again while she slept. Her mind was then put at ease when she saw him pull up a chair next to her.

"You got it. I'll be right here, promise." He assured her as he sat I the chair. Piper took one last look into his eyes before drifting into the most peaceful sleep she'd had in weeks.

* * *

Later in the day Ryan sat down with Ashley and Piper and listened to them debrief what had transpired while being imprisoned at the Institute. Their plans had taken a serious blow now that Nora knew they were building the intercept relay as they had lost the element of surprise. Whether or not if they would go through with the plan was up for debate now as they weighed the risks of going in despite the enemy knowing they were coming. Regardless it would still be some time before the relay was operational anyways. For now, Ryan decided it would be best to continue normal operations until the relay was completed and a decision made. In the meantime, Ryan would stay back at the Castle with Piper and help her deal with whatever demons she'd brought along with her from the Institute and it wasn't long before the two were once again traveling the Commonwealth and enjoying each other's company. While they enjoyed this period of relative bliss, it wouldn't be long before they were once again thrown back into the fight…


	28. Commissioning

After spending some time back with Ryan and the rest of the Marines, Piper had begun to feel much better, so much so that she had begun to bug Ryan about letting her start going out into the field again. Ryan however did not feel that she was well enough yet and had refused her constant requests, until finally he got tired of her bringing it up in conversation.

"Alright, alright. You can start going back out into the field next week." Ryan relented.

"Next Week!? Blue I'm ready now!" Piper protested.

"I know that, but we still need to get you commissioned and have your gear prepped. That all takes time." He told her.

"Commissioning only takes like five minutes, and how much gear could I really need? I'll just be out reporting like I used to." She asked.

Ryan shook his head and sighed. "Alright, let's stop by the armory and get your things."

The two then crossed the Castle's courtyard to the armory. Once inside Ryan directed Piper to stand behind a table and wait while he sorted through the armory's contents for her things.

"Firsts things first, your weapons." He said as he placed an M4 carbine and Piper's M45 along with six magazines for each weapon totaling for one-hundred and eighty rounds for the carbine and forty-two rounds for the pistol.

"Next, body armor." Ryan continued, placing a plate carrier, a belt with magazine pouches, and a helmet next to the weapons.

"And finally, your reporting gear." He finished as he set down a still frame camera, video and audio recorder, empty holotapes, notepads, and writing utensils.

"Do I really need all this?" Piper asked, eyeing all the items skeptically.

"Yes, you do, get that sorted out in your quarters. We'll take care of your commissioning tomorrow." Ryan said as he walked out of the armory.

"Tomorrow!?" Piper cried.

"Writing up paper work takes time, besides this gives us time for our friends to come back and watch." He shouted back over his shoulder, leaving Piper standing alone in the armory. Piper sighed in frustration as she grabbed her things and left. She was slightly upset that Ryan was acting like a child about this, weren't Generals supposed to be mature? Piper shook her head to dismiss that thought, Ryan would always be a Lance Corporal at heart. With her belongings gathered, Piper returned to her quarters, eagerly awaiting the next day.

* * *

The following afternoon Ryan, Piper, and the rest of their friends, dressed in their fatigues, had gathered in Ryan's office for Piper's commissioning. Piper stood at attention in front of Ryan as he read her warrant while the others stood behind them. Piper remembered when they had done this exact same ceremony last week for Ashley, who had been instantly promoted to the rank of Captain. As Ryan finished reading Piper's warrant he nodded to Ashley to step forward. Ashley approached the two and saluted Ryan, who returned the salute and motioned for her to continue. She then stepped in front of Piper and pinned the gold bar of a 2nd Lieutenant onto her uniforms collar. Ashley then smiled at her and patted her shoulder before returning to the group, giving Ryan the go ahead to finish the ceremony.

"Attention to orders. Lieutenant Piper Wright, effective immediately you are to perform all duties of a Combat Correspondent in the Marine Corps. Furthermore, you are to establish relations with all peaceful settlements in the Commonwealth and secure their aid in our mission to bring peace to the Commonwealth. Lastly, you are to take a detailed account of this conflict for future generations to learn from. Do you understand and accept these orders?" Ryan asked.

"Yes Sir!" Piper replied eagerly.

With her acceptance of her orders, Ryan then saluted. "Take charge and dismiss the detail." He ordered.

"Aye aye Sir!" She said before about facing and facing her gathered friends, who stood at attention for her. "Detail, Fallout!" She ordered. Her friends then broke their formation, effectively ending the ceremony, and gathered to congratulate Piper. They enjoyed the following celebration while they could, knowing that they would all have to return to their duties tomorrow morning.

* * *

Back in the Institute, Nora was pacing back and forth in her quarters debating her next course of action. The destruction of the Railroad was a huge success for her and had proved to the board of directors just how effective her Stormtroopers were. Despite this Shaun still refused to see her actions as justified, arguing that there had been no need to execute them, that she should have just had them imprisoned and reeducated. Aside from that Nora had tried to persuade him once again that his father would not accept Shaun's offer, and that the growing buildup and alliance with the Brotherhood would only bring their destruction. But he had still refused to heed her warnings, confident that Ryan would listen to him.

" _Shaun, please listen to me! Your Father's forces are growing stronger by the day and they have discovered a way to reach us. If he isn't stopped now we will be destroyed!" Nora argued._

" _No! I refuse to condemn my Father without at least meeting him. I'm sure that once I talk with him he'll understand. Mother you must trust me on this." Shaun replied._

" _I do trust you, but I don't trust him." She told him._

" _Why not? Why do you despise him so much Mother?" Shaun asked._

" _That's none of your concern!" She shouted back, before crossing her arms and looking away._

" _Mother, please talk to me." Shaun said, pressing her for an explanation._

 _Nora, rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "You wouldn't understand!" She replied._

" _How can I understand if you don't tell me." He tried again. Seeing that Shaun wouldn't let the issue drop she sighed in defeat and faced him once again._

" _I'm jealous, ok! Ever since I found out that I was just a copy of your real mother, I've hated her and everything she held dear. She took everything from me! How can I have the life she had as a synth? I'll never be anything more than a copy!" Nora cried._

 _Shaun was surprised at this revelation, he had known that his mother had taken that particular news badly, but this was an irrational hatred._

" _That's not true Mother. YOU raised me. YOU were there for me when my parents were locked in that vault. You are my Mother and I love YOU. If that isn't a life I don't know what is." Shaun reasoned._

 _Nora had begun to cry as she heard those words and she looked down in shame. When she looked up again Shaun noticed that her eyes had shifted color from their sickly yellow to the vibrant green he remembered her having while growing up._

" _Your right, Shaun. Raising you was the best thing I've ever done, and I know that you don't agree with how I am now, but please know that everything that I have done, all the wrongs that I've committed, have been to keep you safe. That's all I've ever wanted to do, and that's what I'm doing now. I understand why you want to meet your Father, he is a better person than I could ever be, but he believes that the Institute is an enemy to be defeated. He may not want to harm you, but he will destroy everything you've worked for. Please, let me protect you." Nora pleaded desperately._

" _I'm sorry Mother, but this is something that I need to do…"_

Nora groaned in frustration, Shaun would force her hand if he wouldn't listen to her. Taking control of the Institute away from him was a risky move, but if it kept him safe it would be worth it. For now she would wait and see what the future had planned.


	29. Public Relations

**So I realize that this transition from Minutemen to Marine Corps was kind of unexpected, and that's my fault for not making it a clear transition. Hopefully this clears up some of that confusion.**

 **I want to thank Luckenhaft for the guidance to do a chapter like this, your last review was exactly the type of feedback that I need to improve this story and myself as a writer, so thank you for that and I look forward to more of your insights.**

* * *

Good evening ladies and gentlemen of the Commonwealth, Travis Miles here with something a little different for you tonight. As I'm sure your all aware the Minutemen have come under new management several months ago and, following increased reports of supposed Institute attacks, have made some very controversial changes to their infrastructure. Changes some would even say are unnecessary. Luckily for us Diamond City's own Piper Wright has taken it upon herself to get the answers behind some of these radical reforms straight from Lance Corporal Ryan Anderson, acting General of the United States Marine Corps.

 _ **Begin Playback**_

" _Alright, I'm Lieutenant Wright here with Lance Corporal Anderson, acting General of the newly resurrected United States Marine Corps. General, first off let me just say how much I appreciate you taking the time to do this interview."_

" _Of course, it's a pleasure to be able to address the people of the Commonwealth. I understand that some of the changes we've made in the past month might put some people on edge about our intentions, but I would be glad to answer whatever questions you might have and hopefully put people's minds at ease."_

" _That's exactly what we're here for, so let's get started. When did you decide that the Minutemen weren't enough to defend the Commonwealth? What made you decide to bring back the Marine Corps?"_

" _While I served as General of the Minutemen we did great things, we set up several new settlements and helped secure the existing ones. We formed an alliance with the Brotherhood of Steel and stepped up our own military strength. But even with all our accomplishments we were still a ragtag group of civilians running around with guns scattered across the Commonwealth without any sort of defined leadership. Yeah we had the Castle as a base of operations but our ability to coordinate effectively was severely lacking, a fact that become abundantly clear when we were unable to respond to the Institute's attack on the Railroads HQ. By the time we even suspected something had happened two of our operatives and the entire Railroad leadership had been captured. That's when I came to the realization that the Minutemen as they were weren't going to cut it in the war that's coming. The following morning, I held a meeting with our leadership to figure out what we were going to do to correct this deficiency. I proposed that we unify all our current forces, which the majority were in a reserve state at the time, into an active fighting force and place an emphasis on combat effectiveness and reaction time, much like the pre-war Marine Corps. This plan would change the Minutemen from a bunch of settlers with guns into an actual military force capable of rivaling the other factions in the Commonwealth. Colonel Garvey agreed with this plan and suggested that while we were rebuilding ourselves from the ground up that we do away with our old identity and adopt a new one. Since we were using the USMC as a standard to hold ourselves to, as well as my prior service, it only seemed right that we bring back the pre-war organization. Since then we've been working on fully transitioning into a fighting force worthy of the title United States Marines."_

" _Doesn't that seem a tad bit arrogant to you, renaming the Minutemen Marines based solely on your prior service?"_

" _Maybe, but this is more than just a changing of our name, we're actually reestablishing the USMC. Sure it's biased, had I served in any other branch I would have probably pushed to resurrect that group, but historically speaking the Marine Corps is the best fighting force in recent pre-war history and I believe that we can be again."_

" _That's very interesting General. However, people across the Commonwealth have grown used to the Minutemen being around again and feel that you're discrediting everything the Minutemen have accomplished. What do you have to say on that topic?"_

" _It's understandable that people feel that way, but the Marine Corps has always valued its heritage and traditions. That being said we've taken the Minutemen's idea of responding in a minute's notice and developed a rapid response, hunter/killer team, named the Marine Corps Minutemen in honor of the groups accomplishments, capable of immediately reacting to calls of distress. These special operatives operate in small three to four man teams to quickly and effectively handle any situation that may come up. What used to take the original Minutemen days to accomplish, we can now accomplish in a matter of hours. The members of this elite group embody and uphold all the values that the Commonwealth Minutemen established and they are a vital part of our Corps."_

" _Why not just keep the Minutemen around and train a portion of them to become Marines?"_

" _Simply put, why have less when you can have more?"_

" _I see. What about the men and women under your command, how have they reacted to the militarization reforms you've enacted?"_

" _I'm aware that many of our troops joined the Minutemen to ensure the security of their settlements and expected to remain in a reserve status, but with increasing aggression from the Institute, and the ever present threat of raiders and super mutants preying on underdeveloped settlements, the majority of our troops welcomed the chance to be a part of something bigger than themselves and learn the skills needed to effectively defend their homes. This new generation of Marines is committed to ensuring that the Commonwealth becomes a place where people can live without fear."_

" _Speaking of a new generation of Marines, I understand that your holding these Marines up to a higher standard than when they were Minutemen, has this affected them in anyway?"_

" _This isn't a new concept; the Marine Corps has always held itself to higher standards than any other military force. This standard gives our Marines something to strive for and they find pride in knowing that they're the best fighting force in the Commonwealth. Morale has increased exponentially, we went from being unorganized farmers with a seemingly unobtainable, undefined goal, to united, trained, warfighters with a clear goal to work towards."_

" _You've said that you wanted to reform the Minutemen's combat effectiveness. How has transitioning into a Marine Corps contributed to this?"_

" _As the Minutemen, we focused more on defensive tactics to secure our settlements hold attackers at bay. As Marines we've adopted the USMC's concept of maneuver warfare. This new doctrine allows us to defeat our enemies by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption, giving us the tactical advantage in combat. Utilizing these tactics, we've eliminated several raider encampments, including the Corvega plant, and we're currently working on destroying their last strongholds in the Boston ruins."_

" _Alright, let's move onto the big question on everyone's mind. How will the Marine Corps defeat the Institute, an organization that has terrorized the Commonwealth for decades?"_

" _It's true, the Institute is unlike any enemy the Marine Corps has ever faced. They're technologically advanced, have seemingly limitless amounts of troops, and are well hidden, but one thing that gives us the advantage over them is our will to fight. Throughout our history we've always committed to fighting and destroying our enemy, no matter how the odds are stacked against us, and we've always come out on top. It won't be any different this time, yes these Marines are new and untested but I have complete confidence in their ability to fight and win this war."_

" _Let's hope so, aside from the Brotherhood your Marines are best chance we have against the Institute. Thank you for your time General, I wish you and the Marine Corps the best of luck in your endeavors. This has been Lieutenant Wright with General Anderson."_

 _ **End Playback**_

"And there you have it folks, the Minutemen are gone but from their ashes the Marine Corps has been reborn. Let's hope that they can live up to their pre-war reputation and bring an end to the constant fighting in the Commonwealth. So good luck in your campaign, Marines. And now these next songs go out to our boys and girls in green fighting to keep us safe, stay safe out there…"

* * *

 **Again I hope this has cleared up any confusion.**

 **These last few chapters have been very administrative in nature, but the next chapter will get back to the action in the form of Marines doing what they do best...**


	30. Vertibird Down

After Piper had dropped off her interview with Ryan at Diamond City Radio she had gone up to the Mayor's office to negotiate aid from Diamond City for the Marines. McDonough was of course, suspicious of her intentions but after assuring him of her sincerity he promised to give them aid if the Marines could take care of one of Diamond City's problems, that problem being the super mutants constantly attacking the city's outer defenses. Piper agreed to bring it up with Ryan once she returned to the Castle.

Piper found Ryan in the motor pool adjusting the MRAP's mounted .50 CAL. She called up to him and quickly debriefed him on the situation.

"So let me get this straight. In order to get from Diamond City, we have to wipe out the super mutants in the area surrounding the city? Do we even know where they're coming from?" Ryan asked once Piper had given him her report.

"Actually yes. Super mutants heavily occupy the area around Trinity Tower, most people believe that that's where they're held up at." Piper answered, recalling local folklore.

"Trinity Tower huh? That' right in the middle of the city on the edge of raider territory, we'd be fighting every step of the way there. We'll need to call in the Brotherhood for aerial support, get in contact with Danse and see what he can do on his end, I'll start planning the rest of this assault." Ryan ordered.

"I'm on it Blue, I'll let you know what I hear." Piper replied as she left to find a radio.

Ryan then went to his office and waited for Piper to get ahold of Danse before they began to plan out the operation.

A week later Ryan and Danse had finished planning out the operation. Marines would take a convoy of Humvee's through the city in the early morning, avoiding raider controlled territory, and secure the block around Trinity Tower before dismounting and assaulting the tower from the ground up while the Brotherhood provided over watch with their Vertibirds and deploying a strike team on the tower's roof that would link up with the Marines in the middle. In all the operation should take only a day at most to complete if everything went smoothly. In the event of something going wrong, Preston and his Minutemen Marines would be on standby at the Castle to act as a quick reaction a quick call to MacCready at Spectacle Island, Ryan stood before his Marines and briefed them on the coming assault.

"Alright, I know we're all eager to take the fight to the Institute and believe me when I say that our time is coming, but as Marines it is our duty to defend the people of the Commonwealth against any and all threats. That being said, tomorrow morning we will be rolling out and attacking the super mutants that have infested the Boston ruins at their home. For too long the super mutants have rampaged across the Commonwealth destroying everything they come across, but that ends now. With the aid of our friends in the Brotherhood we will destroy those monsters once and for all and bring the Commonwealth one step closer to peace. This will be our first battle as Marines, but I'm confident that we're all ready to get out there and start slaying bodies, so let's go and show the people of the Commonwealth exactly what Marines can do! Oorah!?" Ryan finished, excited to go to battle with his Marines.

"OORAH!" The Marines cheered, ready to put their training to use and prove themselves to the Commonwealth. Once Ryan finished addressing his troops he dismissed them to start getting ready for tomorrows assault.

The following morning, before sunrise, a convoy of six Humvees drove out of the Castle and into the Boston ruins with three Brotherhood Vertibirds overhead. Recon teams sent out the previous night reported the super mutants controlled a three block perimeter around Trinity Tower and had several outposts scattered across the area that could prove troublesome for the ground elements. Aside from scouting out super mutant territory the recon teams had also ventured into the nearby raider territory to determine if they would be a problem or not. Fortunately, it seemed that the majority of the raiders were busy wasting their time at the Combat Zone and wouldn't be hostile unless their territory was entered.

As the convoy entered the city ruins Ryan, riding in the lead Humvee with Piper, switched on his radio and contacted Paladin Danse who was riding in one of the Vertibirds with his team.

"Anderson to Danse, radio check over?" He spoke into the radio.

" _This Danse, reading you Lima Charlie."_ Came Danse's reply.

"Rodger that, Anderson out." He said, ending the conversation. After his check with Danse Ryan switched the radio to the main channel.

"All stations, be advised we are entering hostile territory. Drivers stay in sight with each other. All guns are cleared to go condition one, gunners keep your head's on a swivel and watch for hostiles. ETA to Trinity Tower is ten mikes, over." Ryan informed the assault force.

No sooner had he put the radio down when the convoy began to take fire from one of the buildings directly in front of them. Ryan's gunner reacted quickly however and returned fire with his .50 CAL, killing a group of super mutants posted in one of the blown out buildings. Piper had switched on her video/ audio recorder strapped to the shoulder of her plate carrier and caught the whole thing.

As they drove past the building and rounded the corner the convoy was met with more fire from an overpass. The machine gunners were at a poor angle and couldn't effectively engage their targets, which used their advantage to fire at the vehicles and keep the gunner's heads down, until Danse's Vertibird flew along the length of the overpass and used its mounted minigun to eliminate the mutants. Once the threat was eliminated the machine gunners were free to engage super mutants attacking them from the streets.

The further they drove the more fire the seemed to intensify. Piper jumped in her seat as a hail of bullets from the super mutants bounced off the glass of her window only for the shooters to quickly be cut down as fifty caliber bullets tore their bodies to shreds. She looked over to Ryan to see that he was holding the radio up to his ear to hear what was going on with the other trucks over all the gunfire taking place outside.

Suddenly their gunner, a young Private named Adams, collapsed into the Humvee bleeding from his shoulder. Ryan instantly threw his radio down and began to apply pressure to the wound, making made eye contact with Piper as he treated Adams.

"I've got him, get up on that gun!" He shouted at her.

Piper nodded in response and quickly climbed up into the turret. Grabbing hold of the fifty she swung the large gun back towards the super mutants and fired the remainder of the belt into them, shredding them to bloody pieces. Piper then removed the empty ammo can and quickly replaced it with a fresh one before loading the new belt onto the guns feedway and racking the charging handle back twice to load the gun. With the gun reloaded Piper swung the turret back to the front as the convoy reached its checkpoint one block from Trinity Tower. Ryan had stabilized Private Adam's wound and Piper gave the gun back to him as she and Ryan dismounted the Humvee along with the rest of the ground force.

"All dismounts push towards the tower, destroy anything in your way." Ryan ordered over the radio before unslinging his M4 and motioning for Piper to join him.

Ryan and Piper pushed past the checkpoint with a squad of Marines led by Ashley and immediately took fire from super mutants dug into the tower's lobby with a medium machine gun. The Marines took cover behind burnt out cars as the mutants hammered their position. Ryan peeked out of cover to observe the battlefield and saw that the lobby was exposed from its left side.

"Ash! Take your squad and flank their left side, wait for my go!" He shouted to the Lone Wanderer as he loaded a 40mm grenade into his carbine's launcher.

"Roger that! Corporal Perez we're flanking right!" She quickly shouted back.

Ryan then broke cover and fired his grenade launcher into the lobby, catching two mutant hounds in the explosion and buying Ashley's squad time to flank. With her squad now in position Ashley caught the super mutants off guard as she fired into them with her AK-47 backed by multiple shots from her squad's M16's. The super mutants couldn't react to the ambush in time and were easily cut down, leaving the lobby secure for the moment.

"Anderson to Danse, lobby secure. Get your team onto the roof ASAP, how copy?" Ryan spoke into his radio.

" _Lima Charlie. Airspace is getting hot up here, we're taking a lot of RPG fire from the tower."_ Came the urgent reply.

"Roger that, deploy and get those birds clear."

* * *

Paladin Danse put his radio away after talking with Ryan. The sun had risen and the ground assault seemed to be going smoothly, but as for them they had begun to take heavy fire and several near misses from RPG's. After making sure his team was ready he ordered the pilot to bring them in close to disembark. As soon as the Vertibird came close however several super mutants rushed onto the roof and began to fire at them. Danse's team held them off but he soon caught sight of one of the creatures carrying an RPG and aiming it at them. He quickly shifted his fire but killed the mutant too late, as it had already fired and he could only watch in horror as the rocket struck his Vertibirds left engine, causing the pilot to immediately back off to a safe distance.

" _VB-112, you've got smoke coming from your number two engine return to the Prydwen for immediate repairs."_ One of the other Vertibird pilots said over the radio.

"Negative VB-019, engines holding fine." Danse's pilot responded.

Danse looked over to the engine and saw that while the engine was indeed smoking but it seemed to be holding and his pilot brought them back around for another pass. As they approached the tower however, Danse noticed that they were losing a considerable amount of altitude. Suddenly the entire craft lurched and Danse looked back at the engine to see that the rotor had come lose and was wobbling uncontrollably.

"Pilot, we need to land this bird now!" He shouted.

"I've lost pressure in the petals, I can't control her!" The pilot shouted back.

Danse was about to reply when suddenly the rotor snapped and sliced into the Vertibirds wing before flying off the craft. Alarms blared loudly as the Vertibird spun out of control and rapidly descended towards the ground below.

"Mayday, mayday! VB-112 is going down hard! I say again we're going down hard!" The pilot yelled into his radio while Danse and his team secured themselves as best they could as the craft scrapped against the side of Trinity Tower before plowing into the ground several blocks from the tower and finally coming to a screeching halt on its side in the middle of a four-way intersection.

* * *

Back at the Prydwen Elder Maxson and Lancer-Captain Kells were monitoring the battle from the ships command deck and were tracking VB-112 as it crashed into the city.

"Sir, VB-112 just crashed down in the middle of Raider territory, sensors are picking up large amounts of movement all over the place!" Kells informed Elder Maxson.

"Can we send in another Vertibird to pull them out?"

"Negative, airspace is too hot to risk anymore birds."

"Get Anderson on the line, see what his ground team can do!"

* * *

Over at the Combat Zone, Cait was in the middle of a fight when the doors suddenly burst up and some idiot with a gun ran in and started shouting.

"Guys, you'll never believe it! One of those Brotherhood ships just crashed right in the middle of our turf! Come on let's go get those fuckers!"

Upon hearing the news, the raiders dropped everything they were doing and jumped up to grab various weapons. Once armed they raced outside eager to be the first ones to get to the crash site.

"Well, I guess we're closed for the day huh?" Tommy commented once the last of the raiders had left.

"No kidding." Cait replied dismissively. She left the arena and headed to where she kept her things. Grabbing her shotgun and making sure it was loaded she headed back out into the main room.

"The hell are you doing?"

"I'm done here Tommy; the fights have been great but I'm tired of being those idiot's entertainment. Someone's bound to come looking for that ship and when they do I'm leaving this shithole with them."

"Hey you can't just up and leave whenever you choose, we have a contract remember?"

"Screw your contract, I'm no one's property!"

Tommy looked like he wanted to argue more but realized that it would be a futile effort. When he didn't reply Cait turned her back on him and walked out of the Combat Zone and headed off towards the smoke billowing in the distance.

* * *

Paladin Danse groaned as he forced the Vertibirds side door open, the crash had resulted in them landing on their side leaving them momentarily trapped in the wreck. Danse and his team had survived the crash, though Rhys's leg had been broken and he was knocked unconscious. The pilots however hadn't fared so well, taking the brunt of the crash and they had died on impact.

"Haylen, what's Rhys's status can we move him?" Danse asked the Field Scribe.

"I've stabilized his leg with a traction splint, but we can't lift him out of the wreck on our own without injuring him further." She reported.

"Damnit, we'll have to hold our position until someone comes for us. Get a distress pulsar up."

"Already done Sir"

At that moment they began to hear faint shouts in the distance that sounded like it was coming from every direction at once. Paladin Danse looked peeked out of the wreck as the shouts grew louder and saw mobs of raiders brandishing various weapons approaching the crash site from all directions. As soon as he ducked his head back inside shots were fired and bullets began to ricochet off the wreck.

"What's going on out there!?"

"Raiders, we must have crashed right in the middle of their territory. We have to hold out until help arrives." He said grimly as he readied his weapon.

* * *

Meanwhile Ryan and his Marines had begun to fight their way up Trinity Tower and had made it up several floors when Ryan was contacted by Elder Maxson over the radio. Taking cover behind an over turned desk, Ryan picked up his radio while Piper watched his back.

"This is Anderson, what's going on!" He shouted over the gunfire.

" _Paladin Danse's Vertibird was shot down and crashed in the middle of raider territory, airspace around the crash site is too hot for us to send in more birds and they're taking fire from raiders on all sides, can you assist?"_ The Elder explained.

"Negative, we've already begun our assault! I'll call back to the Castle and have a QRF sent out to their location!" Ryan assured the Elder.

"What's going on!?" Piper yelled once Ryan got off the radio.

"Danse's bird was shot down and their surrounded by raiders, I'm calling in a QRF to pull them out!" Ryan informed her before switching the channel on his radio to call Preston. "Preston! Theirs a downed Vertibird in the middle of raider territory, need you to grab your guys and pull them out ASAP!"

" _Roger that, don't worry General we'll get those guys out in one piece."_ Came Preston's reply.

With the QRF en-route Ryan put away his raider and returned to the fight, emptying the remainder of his current magazine into a group of super mutants rushing down the stairs. After quickly reloading Ryan aimed his Carbine back towards the stairs but that last group of mutants appeared to have been the last of them for the moment. Ryan ordered the Marines to take a defensive posture while he consulted with Piper and Ashley.

"Danse's bird went down, we're on our own in here." He informed them.

"Damn, what do you suggest we do?" Ashley asked.

"We can still stick to the plan, that elevator should go up close to the roof. We can send one of our squads up while the other continues to fight up the stairs."

"My team and I will take the stairs, I have more people and am better equipped to take on more mutants. You and Piper will be better suited to flank them from the rear. Go up as high as you can and will meet up in the middle before taking the roof." Ashley decided.

"Understood, keep your guys safe Ash. Come on Piper let's move."

"Right behind you."

Once in the elevator Ryan punched the button that would take them up the tower. As they rode up Ryan checked over his ammo and noted that he was down to three magazines for his carbine and four grenades for the launcher. Ammo count in check, Ryan then looked at Piper to see how she was doing. Sure they had been in gunfights before, Rivet City being a perfect example, but this was the first time Piper was participating in an actual assault with people counting on them to lead them through it. Currently she was fidgeting with her weapon as the elevator took them up.

"Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah, just adrenaline. This is really intense ya know?"

"Yeah, you can say that again. Haven't done anything like this since Anchorage, course we were fighting people then, not monsters. Anyways I was just checking in on you, my first battle was kind of rough and I wanted to make sure you were alright, you know in the head."

"Don't worry about me Blue, I'm fine, promise. Come on let's just finish this and go home."

"Alright. Let's do this, just you and me, like old times."

"Ha, don't remind me. I got tired of you having to constantly save my ass with 'superior' training." Piper said with a laugh.

"Ok, i see how it is. Go on ahead and try to show me up with your new found combat prowess, we'll compare scores at the end." Ryan joked back.

* * *

Back at the Castle two Humvees containing Preston's QRF rolled out of the motor pool and sped into the city. Following the same route Ryan's assault force had taken brought them close to the edge of raider territory and they could see the smoke billowing from the crash site along with the sounds of gunfire. Skirting the outskirts for a way in though was proving to be difficult, the raiders had built crude fortifications all along the edge of their turf that was preventing the QRF from reaching the crash site by vehicle. After driving around the outskirts several times without finding a way in Preston stopped his Humvees and ordered his team to dismount, leaving the drivers and gunners on standby while they made their way to the crash site on foot. Once past the barriers they found that the streets were completely empty, every raider in the area must have rushed to the crashed Vertibird, if the gunfire was anything to go off of.

"Sounds like they're in deep, we need to hurry!" Preston ordered as he picked up his teams pace.

Even with the smoke and gunfire to guide them, the area was so heavily destroyed that they might as well be navigating through a maze. The sun was beginning to fall as Preston and his team ran through another building, only for Preston to crash into a woman running the opposite way. Preston quickly recovered and leveled his weapon with the woman as his team backed him up.

"Drop the gun, NOW!" He shouted at the woman, who quickly complied once she saw all the rifles aimed her way. "What the hell are you doing out here, you a raider?" He asked once she dropped her shotgun.

"No I'm not a raider! Those idiots forced me to fight for their amusement but since their all occupied right now I'm taking my chance to leave this place." She replied.

"Look we need to get to that Vertibird before the raiders kill those soldiers, but we're lost in this block. Can you lead us through to that crash?"

"I just got away from their, why would I possibly want to go back!?"

"You get us there and we'll help you get of here in one piece, deal?"

"Gah, fine. But when we get out of here I want a reward of some kind."

"Alright, you get us there and I'll talk with the General about getting you a reward."

"Now you're talkin, come on the crash is this way."

"Hey, I'm Preston by the way and these are the Marine Corps Minutemen."

"Right, never heard of you guys but I'm Cait if we're exchanging names."

"Cait, got it. Let's get going."

After their introduction Cait picked her shotgun up and lead Preston and his Marines through the ruins and towards the crash. Despite this Preston feared that they would arrive too late, the gunfire had increased in volume and he could hear the shouts of raiders cheering on their fellows as they attacked the crash.

* * *

Hours after the crash Danse, Haylen, and Rhys, who was still unconscious, were still trapped inside their Vertibird. Hordes of raiders had swarmed over the crash site and were launching multiple harassing attacks. Danse had exhausted all the fusion cells for his laser rifle and had to resort to using the ammo for his sidearm sparingly. As the day went on the raiders had become bolder in their attacks, getting increasingly closer to the Vertibird with each wave that attacked. Despite the raiders taking heavy casualties they relentless charged the crash as onlookers cheered them on. Danse fired the last few shots from his sidearm at another group of raiders but had only killed two before his gun clicked empty.

" _This is it."_ Danse thought to himself as the raiders rushed the Vertibird once his ammo ran out. He looked at Haylen to offer some sort of comfort when a long burst of machine gun fire from their rear was heard, drowning out the shouts of the approaching raiders. Danse peeked out of the Vertibird and saw that the raiders had been gunned down, to the dismay of the on looking raiders. Looking to the building behind him, Danse saw two Marines manning a M240 medium machine gun in a window, barrel still smoking, along with Preston and a squad of Marines rushing to them.

Preston was the first to reach them and he quickly climbed over the Vertibird to get to Danse.

"You guys alright!?" He shouted.

"Haylen and I are fine, Rhys is knocked out and has a broken leg, our pilots are dead." Danse quickly reported.

"Alright, let's get you out of here, pass Rhys up first!"

As Danse and Haylen carefully passed Rhys up to Preston and another Marine more raiders attempted to attack but were quickly suppressed by the Marines manning the machine gun. Once Rhys was out of the crash he was carried back to the Marines position while Preston and Danse worked to get the bodies of the pilots out of the wreck. Danse then helped Haylen climb out of the Vertibird before attempting to get out himself, to no avail.

"You're going to have to leave the power armor, it's too heavy to pull out!" Preston told him.

Danse nodded his understanding and exited his armor. Once out of his armor Preston helped him out of the crash, where Danse then threw a thermite grenade into the wreck to destroy any sensitive equipment, and the two ran back towards the building while 7.62 flew overhead, cutting down any raiders attempting to pursue them. After regrouping Danse and Haylen finally had a moment to rest as the Marines pushed the raiders back.

"Who's this?" Danse asked once he caught sight of the out of place looking woman.

"This is Cait, she knows the area and helped us navigate the ruins to get to you." Preston explained.

"Oh, well then you have my thanks."

"Don't mention it soldier boy, but I should be thanking you. Without that crash of yours I'd have never been able to leave this shit hole. Now come on, we've wasted enough time here." Cait replied, heading towards the exit.

Danse was then passed more fusion cells for his laser rifle and joined the Marines as Cait led them out of the raiders territory.

* * *

Back at Trinity Tower Ryan and Piper had begun to make their way down the tower to link up with Ashley and her squad. Fighting downwards was much easier than fighting up as the two were able to catch the super mutants off guard as they crept down the stairs. Eventually they were able to hear gunfire from Ashley's group and Ryan quickly radioed down that they were coming down the stairs. Once the gunfire stopped Ryan cautiously peeked down the stairs to see Ashley and her Marines securing the floor before he and Piper joined them.

"Hey, glad you could make it. I'm assuming the buildings clear on your end and that we can proceed to the roof?" Ashley greeted once she saw the two.

"You expected anything less? Preston radioed me a minute ago, they got Danse and his team out of the crash and are headed back to the Castle. Now it's up to us to finish this." Ryan replied.

Ryan and Piper led Ashley's group up the path they cleared through the towers upper levels and towards the roof access. Once at the door they got into position to breach the roof, Ryan kicked the door out with the heel of his boot and stepped back as Ashley's team rushed through the doorway and began to fire at the last super mutant holdouts. Night had fallen and the rooftop was dimly lit by several small lights scattered along the roof, but the roof was brightened by muzzle flashes as the Marines and super mutants fired at each other. With their fire team in place Ryan and Piper joined the fight and took cover behind some rubble. Ashley's Marines had killed the majority of the super mutant soldiers and were preparing to close in and finish off the last of them when a super mutant overlord stepped out of cover wielding a minigun. The overlord's superior firepower kept the Marines pinned down and unable to return fire.

"Blue, what do we do!?" Piper shouted as she blindly fired her M45 over their cover.

"I've got a plan! When it reloads I'm going to use my launcher and try to take it out, Ash keep your guy's heads down when I do!" He replied after checking to see if his 203 was loaded.

After another minute of firing the overlord ran out of ammo and had to reload, Ryan took the pause in fire to peek over his cover and level his weapon at the overlord. Time seemed to slow as he pulled the trigger, Ryan saw the grenade fire out of his weapon with a loud _"Thuumpp"_ and watched it spin through the air as it flew towards the overlord. Ryan must have been off a little in his aim or a gust of wind had offset the grenade as it flew past the overlord and impacted a box of explosives behind it, detonating its contents and engulfing the overlord in the resulting explosion. As the explosion dissipated the Marines could see that all that remained of the overlord was a few small, burnt meat chunks.

"Whoa, fuck yeah!" Ryan exclaimed, admiring his handiwork as Corporal Perez supervised the Marines securing the roof.

"Hey Ryan, you might want to see this!" Ashley called over to him.

Ryan regained his composure before heading over to see what she wanted. When he got to her he was surprised to see a man and a super mutant trapped in a cage.

"Umm, what are you doing in there with this…thing?" Ryan asked the man.

"Right about that, I'm Rex Goodman and I was attempting to educate these creatures through the power of Shakespeare's writing! Unfortunately, Strong here is the only mutant willing to listen, the others then imprisoned us up here." The man answered.

"Yeah, I can see that. So this Strong is peaceful?" Ryan asked, eyeing the super mutant.

"Well, peaceful may be a bit generous, but he has shown a willingness to work with humans."

"Strong work with humans and find milk of kindness, make Strong stronger!" The mutant suddenly declared.

"Milk of human kindness? The hell is he talking about?" Ryan asked.

"About that, the milk of human kindness is a line from Macbeth but he believes it to be real and that it can give him the strength that makes humans successful."

"Whatever, as long as it's not hostile I'll let it out. You hear that, I'm letting you out and placing you under our custody but you make any sudden movements towards me or my Marines and I'm putting you down, understand?"

"Bah, green humans not worth Strong's time. Strong find milk of human kindness on his own."

Ryan rolled his eyes in annoyance before shooting the lock off the cage and freeing the two prisoners. Goodman and Strong left and headed towards the exit and waited for the Marines to finish their sweep of the roof now that the other super mutants had been killed. With the tower finally secure the Marines were able to relax for a moment while Ryan spoke over his radio to the Humvees down on the streets below.

"All stations, all stations. Target building has been secured, all hostiles neutralized. Assault team exiting building with two detainees, be advised one super mutant in custody I say again one super mutant in custody do not fire on it. All stations prepare to RTB back to the Castle." Ryan put his radio away and turned back to the others. "Alright guys great job up here, let's finish up here and get back home. Oh and Piper, by the way I think I won with that last shot. Nice try though."

"You may have won this time, but I'll best you soon enough just you wait Blue."

They then made their way back down the tower and out to the awaiting convoy of Humvees. They got quite a few odd looks from the turret gunners when they saw Strong being led past them and being placed in the back of a Humvee with two guards. Once Strong was secure, Ryan and Piper headed back to their Humvee and breathed a sigh of relief as they relaxed in their seats while the convoy drove back to the Castle. Despite the mishap with Danse's Vertibird, the assault had been largely successful. The super mutants had been delivered a crushing blow with their base of operations being wiped out, but more importantly they had secured the safety of Diamond City's borders from the super mutant threat. This fight had also shown Ryan that his Marines were capable of adapting to a sudden change of plans in the middle of a fight and coming out on top. Hopefully this victory would be the first of many in the coming war with the Institute…


	31. Intermission

A week had passed since the Marines raided Trinity Tower with the Brotherhood of steel, the event now known as _"The Assault on Trinity Tower"_ as written in the Public Occurrence, was the talk of the Commonwealth. The super mutants, which had posed a constant threat to anyone living in the ruined cityscape, had been driven from their lair and pushed out of the city in the span of a day thanks to the combined efforts of the Commonwealth's two dominant military entity's. In the following week Marine forces under Ashley's command had conducted several raids on the remaining super mutant holdouts scattered throughout the Commonwealth, effectively forcing them to retreat into the Glowing Sea as their camps were systematically wiped out. With the super mutant threat reduced to nearly non-existent the Commonwealth, while still a hostile environment, felt a little safer.

After holding up their end of Mayor McDonough's deal, the Marines had gained the full support of Diamond City and a steady flow of supplies began arriving at the Castle. In return a small detachment of Marines now reinforced Diamond City's security force and a recruitment office was opened in the city, resulting in the recruitment of many of Diamond City's young adults.

As for the two "Pick-ups" the Marines had found during their assault, Cait had told them everything she knew about the various raider gangs fighting for power in the city and who their key people were. Ryan had seen the potential in Cait, but her reliance on drugs and overly aggressive nature made her unfit for active service, and even if he did offer her a chance to join Ryan highly doubted that she would accept, so instead he hired her as a contractor to train new recruits in unarmed fighting, under MacCready's supervision. Strong, on the other hand was kept under armed guard at the Castle until Ryan could figure out how to deal with his situation and what to do with him afterwards. For now, Ryan decided it best to keep him contained where he couldn't hurt anyone.

Piper had been kept busy during the past week, documenting both Cait and Strong's statements and writing articles about how the campaign was going. She hadn't realized it when she took on the responsibility of documenting the Marines exploits how much work would be involved, reports were constantly coming in and she found herself bogged down in stacks of paperwork. Still it was rewarding work, being able to see how Ryan had transformed a ragtag group of farmers into an organized military capable of defending the Commonwealth's citizens from harm. She had been wary of course, fearing that they would end up like the Brotherhood of Steel who only cared about their own agenda, but actually seeing the good they were doing helped ease her fears. She trusted Ryan and believed that he would make the right choices when it came to it. The only downside to this whole thing was that she and Ryan now had very little free time to spend with each other outside of the field, with her publishing articles daily and him overseeing the daily business of the Marines.

It was late at night and Piper was sitting behind her computer, a solemn expression took the place of her usual smile. She hated this part of her job, a folder labeled _"Casualty Reports"_ was opened on her desk and a list of names starred up at her. Along with her normal duties it was also her job to inform the Commonwealth of the Marines that gave their lives to protect its people. One of the Castles old rooms had been converted into a memorial, with the names of their fallen inscribed along the walls. Looking over the list of names she noticed that Adams, the young Private that gunned for her Humvee during the Trinity Tower assault, was listed as KIA due to multiple shrapnel wounds, having placed himself between his squad and a grenade during one of the raids on a super mutant stronghold. Ryan had been right when he told her that war was hell, she was seeing it firsthand here. Piper sighed as she began to compose the obituary, trying to find the right words to convey the heroism of the fallen. By the time she had finished tears were freely falling from her eyes, so many young men and women had given their lives for the Commonwealth, some of them people she had known from her travels across the Commonwealth. She worried that as the war went on, how many more names would be added to the memorial, how long until her name, or god forbid Nat's mane ended up there. Just the thought of her sister becoming involved in a war made her sick and it gave her the drive to keep fighting so she wouldn't have to.

With the obituary finished and sent out to be published in the Public, Piper packed away her things and wiped her eyes before retreated back to the room she and Ryan shared. Upon entering she found Ryan sitting behind his desk with the latest field reports laid out in front of him. Hearing her enter, Ryan turned around in his chair to face her a bemused expression on his face.

"More bad news I take it?" She asked as she sat on their bed and began removing her boots and changing into her sleepwear.

"Not particularly, a squad of Marines was attacked by some robots out by Starlight Drive-in. No casualties just kind of odd. But, I do have an assignment for you if you're interested."

"Oh, and what would that be?" She asked curiously.

"Brotherhoods got a problem with some supplies going missing recently and they're preoccupied to deal with it themselves so they've asked us for help in resolving the issue. I need you to go to the airport and meet with Lancer-Captain Kells, he'll give you more details."

"Alright, cool, but isn't this something more suited for Nick to be doing?"

"Yeah, well you know how the Brotherhood is with synths. They'd shoot him on site, besides I know your tired of being cooped up here writing articles about every other mission going on out there."

"Good point. Fine, I'll see what I can do, just don't expect me to play nice with them."

"I know you have your disagreements with them, hell I don't even agree with some of their views, but we're in this fight together. You don't have to conform to their society but at least be respectful, remember that as a Lieutenant you represent us to everyone else in the world." He reasoned.

"Great, no pressure or anything. Don't worry I'll be mature, can't speak for them though."

"Alright, I'll trust you to not do anything that'll give me more headaches." Ryan joked as he fell back on the bed. Piper then laid down next to him and stared up at the ceiling in thought when Ryan asked another question.

"So, I have to ask. Is being military different from how you thought it would be, I mean the Brotherhood isn't really the best example of a pre-war military."

"Honestly, I didn't know what to think. I've talked with ghouls who were alive before the war and they're opinion wasn't the best, but then I met you and you showed me that it wasn't as bad as they made it out to be. I told you my dad was in a militia, but growing up I never thought about being a soldier, much less an officer. It's weird, I can't even go down the hall without someone saluting me."

"Ha, tell me about it. I miss being a Lance, didn't have to deal with all this administration bullshit back then. I won't lie, those ghouls you talked to had some valid reasons to why they believed the way they do. I told you how in Anchorage we killed the Chinese every chance we got, which was wrong, but in the eyes of the public we were avenging our citizens that had died in the invasion. However once the war died down and after we annexed Canada, there were some incidents of Canadian citizens protesting our presence, which then turned into riots. We defended ourselves but a lot of people got killed, and the media portrayed us as killing innocent civilians, and then our own citizens started protesting and condemning our actions. Regardless of what the public thought, we weren't murderers, we just made the hard choices that others weren't willing to in order to keep our country safe."

"I'd heard that you guys weren't treated that well when coming home, did you have any trouble after your deployment?" Piper asked cautiously, unsure if it was a sore subject to bring up.

Ryan sat up in as he processed the question. "Yeah I did. So my battalion finished its tour in Anchorage and I was on post-deployment leave. My wife had met me at the airport and driven me home, where we decided to have a nice night out and spend time with each other after being separated for over half a year. So we go out to this expensive restaurant, I'm in my dress blues and Nora's wearing this amazing dress and we're walking down the street because parking was crazy. When we get inside and to our table I notice some guy eyeing me up in the corner, but I think nothing of it because it's not every day you see a Marine in his blues out with his wife. Anyways we finish ordering and our meals arrive, all the while this dude's still sizing me up, and I'm starting to get weirded out like ok what's your deal? I get about halfway through my dinner when this guy comes up and shouts, _"Hey you fucking murderer, this establishment is for respectable people so how about you and your skank wife get the hell out!"_ , and I'm like what the fuck!? The whole place went quiet and I stood up and faced this guy. I tell him, "Are you fucking serious right now? I just got back from Anchorage, not Canada and you want to insult my service, worse you want to insult my wife in front of me!? You must be out of your goddamned mind!"

"What'd you do to him?"

"we argued back and forth for a minute before I finally knocked him the fuck out, if Nora hadn't held me back I'd have killed that fucker. Anyways once he was dealt with the whole restaurant cheers and we were comped our dinner. When my CO found out he said he'd have done the same thing, but I had to take negative paperwork. So moral of the story would be don't talk shit to a Marine unless you want your ass beat, pretty simple and self-explanatory. But, that's my experience dealing with civilians who are ignorant of the way we do things. Sitting around singing anti-war songs may seem like a good idea to some, but how good would those songs be if the enemy invaded main land America, because I'll tell you now words aren't gonna stop a bullet from splattering your brains all over the place. If people really wanted to end the war they should have done something useful, like actually join the military and help us end the war, but they argued _"Only people that want to kill other people join the military."_ When I enlisted you can bet I wanted to go and kill the enemy, but they failed to see the whole picture. I wanted to go and kill the enemy to protect my friends and family because I value their lives more than the enemies. I wanted to go out and make a difference, instead of sitting at home complaining about it until something happened. But fuck my good intentions, I'm a sociopathic murder in the eyes of the very people I wanted to protect, sorry I gave a fuck."

"But look at me I'm ranting now, this was supposed to be about you not me. Hopefully with all the good we're doing now you won't have to deal with anything like that, course if someone wants to talk trash to you, they'll have to deal with me." Ryan finished, smiling at Piper as he did.

"Aw, well don't you make me feel special." She said with a laugh.

"Of course your special, you're the one good thing that I have in this world." Ryan replied, and Piper could see how seriously he meant it by the look in his eyes. "When you were being held by the Institute I went crazy, running around the Commonwealth looking for anything that'd let me break in and rescue you from them. Must have been getting under they're skin because I had some run-ins with Stormtroopers on a few occasions. But then you came back, all beaten and bruised and I just wanted to get inside the Institute so I could kill every last one of them. So yeah, believe me when I say that you mean the world to me."

"You're special to me too. All the adventures we've been on, the things we've done and what we're doing now, helping people and keeping them safe. It's what I've always wanted to do, but never could on my own. You gave me this chance and I want you to know that I'll be with you till the end. We're good together."

"That we are, and I can't wait until this whole thing is over. We haven't had time for just us, but once this thing is over I'm getting out and we can have all the time in the world."

"You're really going to leave the military behind for me?" She asked, surprised by this statement. The military was all that Ryan knew and he was willing to give it up to be with her.

"Yeah, I am. I couldn't be there for Nora during my enlistment, but the two of us are in this together and I want do things right this time. So once this is over I'm handing over my position to Preston and retiring both of us from service. Then we'll go and do whatever we want to. I think we've earned that at least."

"Well when you put it that way, I think I can tough it out till then. Something to look forward to."

"Yeah, something to look forward to…"


	32. Duty or Dishonor

**So I'd like to apologize for the large delay in posting, but training has been almost non-stop for the longest time and I have very little time to actually write new chapters and it looks like it'll continue this way for the next few months. That being said I'd like to thank everyone that's stuck around this long, you're support has been invaluable while working on this story. Despite the recent delays I am committed to seeing this through and hope that you all stick around to see it finished. So without further delay I present the next chapter of Calm Before the Storm.**

* * *

Piper left for the Brotherhood's base at the airport early the next day eager to get this business with the Brotherhood over with as quickly as possible. In the days following the Assault on Trinity Tower routes through the city ruins were constantly being patrolled by Marines making travel relatively safe for people. It was strange for Piper to walk through the ruins without the threat of being shot at for once but she found it a welcome change of pace. As such she made it to the airport with relative ease, walking up to the gate checkpoint some hours later.

The Corporal on duty quickly straightened his posture and snapped a quick salute as she reached the checkpoint. "Good morning Ma'am, I've been ordered to take you to Lancer-Captain Kells immediately." The Corporal reported as he cut his salute.

"Alright, lead the way then." Piper said, nodding at the Corporal and gesturing for him to lead her.

The Corporal led Piper through the airport to a waiting Vertibird that would take them up to the Prydwen. Piper had made the short flight up to the Prydwen before with Ryan but being up so high above the ground was still a little unnerving for her. Once on the Prydwen's flight deck Piper was led inside and down into the ships bridge where Lancer-Captain Kells was overseeing the ships controls.

"Sir, the Marine Corps officer sent to investigate the missing supplies has arrived." The Corporal announced as they entered the bridge. Kells looked up from what he was doing and faced the two.

"Thank you Corporal, your dismissed." Kells replied. The Corporal saluted once more before turning on his heel and marching out of the bridge. With her escort gone Kells turned his attention over to Piper.

"I'd like to thank you for arriving on such short notice. Normally we'd handle this situation internally but our forces are stretched thin."

"Well it never hurts to ask for help you know, that's why we're allies."

"Quite so, your corps showed us that when you rescued our crew from that Vertibird. Now we ask that you aid us again."

"That's why I'm here. Ryan, uh I mean, General Anderson told me that some supplies are going missing?"

"That's correct. Several shipments of food have been going missing over the past few weeks but we can't spare any men to look into the matter directly and the Sergeant in charge of the supply depot insists that we've made an error somewhere up here. I need you to go down there and question the troops working in supply, I'm told you're quite good at that."

"Well I wouldn't be a combat correspondent if I couldn't talk to people now would I? Don't worry I'll get to the bottom of this."

"I'm glad to hear that. I suggest you start with Knight-Sergeant Gavil, he's the NCO in charge, perhaps he can point you in the right direction. Oh and don't be afraid to use your rank if they hold out on you, as a Lieutenant you out rank everyone in that depot. Other than that I wish you luck and thank you again for your assistance in this matter."

"It's no trouble Captain, now if you'll excuse me I should get started."

"…For the last time nothing is missing! If our own leadership can't prove anything how is an outsider supposed to?" Knight-Sergeant Gavil argued. After leaving the Prydwen Piper had gone and spoken to the Sergeant as Kells had recommended but the Brotherhood soldier wasn't being very receptive and had taken offense to her questioning. What started as a simple discussion had quickly turned into a one sided argument as Piper tried to keep her cool while the Sergeant berated her authority in this investigation. Thankfully someone else came to her aid before she lost her composure.

"That's enough Sergeant! You're speaking to an officer of our only ally in the area and you will show her the respect she deserves!" A voice shouted from behind her. Sergeant Gavil immediately stood at attention as Piper quickly spun around to find Paladin Danse had shown up behind her.

"Yes sir! Forgive my outburst Ma'am, I have spoken out of line and it will not happen again." Sergeant Gavil apologized as Danse stood next to Piper and stared the man down.

"Your forgiven Sergeant, just tell me what I want to know and I'll be on my way." Piper replied after smiling up at Danse, who gestured for the Sergeant to continue.

"Right, as I've said before I'm unaware of anything missing but being stuck at the desk I don't really see much of what's going on inside the depot. Knight Lucia and Initiate Clarke are the newest members of our unit, perhaps one of them made a mistake on a report or something along those lines but I would talk with them about the missing supplies."

"Thank you Sergeant, you're dismissed." Piper told him before walking away with Danse. Once they were a good enough way away from everyone Piper turned and faced Danse. "Thanks for back there, don't know how much longer I could have put up with his attitude before I started shouting back. "She thanked Danse with a smile.

"It was no trouble Piper. How have you been?"

"I've been great, nothing beats sitting behind a desk reading through seemingly endless reports every day." She replied sarcastically.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I also prefer being out in the field instead of behind a desk."

"So what's new with you? I haven't seen you since the crash."

"My injuries were only superficial and I've recovered back to one-hundred percent efficiency." Danse answered robotically, prompting Piper to laugh.

"No, I meant you as a person." She giggled.

"Oh, I've been fine. I seem to find myself in Scribe Haylen's company more often since the crash though and we've started having chow together every night." He replied nonchalantly. Piper couldn't tell if Danse knew what was going on but it sounded like Haylen was making advances on the Paladin.

"That's good. I spoke to Haylen before at the police station and she seems like a nice girl. I'm assuming you enjoy her company?"

"Of course, Scribe Haylen is a valued member of my team and we get along just fine, though she has taken to asking questions regarding my opinion on things recently."

"Right. Did it ever occur to you that she might be trying to get to know you as more than just another Soldier?"

"I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"I mean she… you know what, you'll figure it out on your own eventually…I hope. In any event we should get back to the matter at hand and start talking with these guys Gavil pointed out."

"Your right, the sooner we figure this out the better. I'll speak with Knight Lucia while you talk with Clarke. Hopefully one of these two has the answers we're looking for."

Piper nodded her agreement and left Danse to find the Initiate. Locating him wasn't too difficult as he was one of the only two other people besides Sergeant Gavil working in the depot. She found the Initiate searching through a toolbox and was unaware of her approaching him.

"Hey, your Clarke right?" Piper asked to get his attention. Her question caught him off guard and he jumped in surprise, scattering the contents off the toolbox.

"Holy shit, don't scare me like that!" He shouted angrily. Clarke was about to continue shouting until he noticed the uniform Piper was wearing and the rank on it. "Oh shit! Sorry for the outburst Ma'am, you just caught me off guard is all." Clarke quickly explained as he snapped to attention and saluted her.

"No trouble Initiate, I shouldn't have snuck up on you like that." She replied after returning a salute.

"Right. Now if you don't mind my asking, what's a Marine Corps Lieutenant want with me?"

"The Brotherhoods got a problem with missing supplies and are stretched too thin to deal with the situation themselves. They've asked the Marines for help and I was sent to lead the investigation." Piper briefly explained.

"Really? That's the first I've heard of any supplies going missing, and I'd know considering I've signed off an all the recent request forms."

"Is it possible that you could've made a mistake on some of those forms?"

"I highly doubt that. I could fill out one of those forms blind folded, but on a more serious note I have been well instructed on how to finalize request forms."

"Ok ok I believe you, have you seen anything unusual lately?"

"Hmm, nothing really comes to mind but I'm always busy inventorying the depot and don't pay attention to what the others are up too."

"What about outside of work, see anything then?"

"No not really, I just go straight up to my quarters once works over so unless stuff goes missing as soon as we leave I wouldn't know about it. Sorry I couldn't be of much help."

"Alright, it's clear that you don't know anything but in the future if you see or hear anything let your Sergeant know and he'll get in contact with me."

"Will do Ma'am. Good luck with your investigation."

"Thanks, take it easy Initiate."

Piper sighed in annoyance as she left Clarke and looked around the depot for wherever Paladin Danse had gone off to. Hopefully his talk with Knight Lucia would turn up something more substantial than a bunch of I don't knows. She couldn't fault the Initiate though, she understood that being a junior rank could leave people too busy to notice or care about the goings on of anything higher than their pay grade. Piper found Danse just as he was dismissing Knight Lucia back to her duties and she walked over eager to hear what he had uncovered.

"Hey, just finished my talk with Initiate Clarke. It was largely uneventful."

"Really? That's surprising because Knight Lucia told me that Initiate Clarke has been acting strangely for a while now."

"What? Strange in what way?"

"She says that he distances himself from his peers and that he disappears somewhere after working hours for extended periods of time."

"Well he certainly told me something different. Guess that show's what being stuck behind a desk can do to a person cause I'd have definitely noticed him lying to me a few months ago."

"Don't worry about it Piper, we have our suspect. Do you want to detain him now or wait for word from higher?"

"Neither, I've got a better idea. Lucia said he disappears after work right? So I say we stick around until the day ends and tail him to wherever it is he wanders off to and catch him in the act. That way there's no doubt that he's our guy."

"Good idea. It seems that some off Anderson's military mindset has rubbed off on you."

"Ha, that's not the only thing he's rubbed off on me…"

"What?"

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

"I could've sworn you said… you know what never mind…"

* * *

After waiting around a few more hours for the work day to end Piper and Danse found out that Knight Lucia's tip paid off as Clarke strayed from his peers and exited the depot through a side door leading towards the airports perimeter. Upon noticing this Piper got Danse's attention and nodded her head in the direction Clarke had gone, motioning for them to follow him. They followed Clarke outside and past the wreckage of a pre-war airplane before the Initiate finally disappeared through another door leading into an unknown part of the airport. Piper reached for the door but Danse raised his hand to stop her.

"Hold up a second, we should be cautious going in there. The Brotherhood doesn't make use of this section and Clarke has had plenty of time down there to prepare for any unwanted guests." Danse stated as he opened the door slowly and checked the frame for booby-traps, opening it slowly when he was satisfied it was safe.

"Right. You take point then Mr. Tin-can." Piper joked as she motioned for him to take the lead.

Inside they found that the section had deteriorated substantially, rubble was scattered across the floor and power was failing in several areas casting the building in an eerie lighting as what lights still worked flickered in and out. Danse led them to the entrance of the old terminal just as the doors to the elevator across the room closed. The two approached the elevator and saw that it had gone down to maintenance on the basement level and that the only way to operate the elevator was with a card key.

"Damnit! Alright there has to be another way down there, start searching!" Danse ordered, already scanning the room for another route.

Piper back tracked down the hall some ways, remembering what looked like a maintenance access point being there. Sure enough the door was there and after a quick look to make sure it wasn't rigged to blow up in her face she pulled the door opened, only to jump back in surprise as a mangled corpse spilled out of the room with the door and collapse in a heap on the ground.

"Shit! Danse come look at this!" She shouted once her heart stopped racing.

Danse jogged over at her call and noticed the body that had been deposited in front of her. "This corpse is Brotherhood, but I don't think Clarke did this to him." Danse muttered as he observed what remained of the body's uniform and the wounds across it.

"Yeah he didn't seem the type to rip someone apart with his bare hands…" Piper grumbled.

"My guess would be ferals. Those abominations infested the airport when we first arrived but we drove them off."

"Well clearly some managed to find a way to stick around."

"This doesn't change anything, Clarke's still down there somewhere with those things. Come on I found another route through leading further in." Danse said, unslinging his laser rifle.

"Right behind you." Piper upholstered the pistol Ryan had given her and racked the slide back, ensuring that a round was chambered before sending the slide back home.

Piper followed Danse past the elevator and down a short flight of stairs into another hallway that had been partially flooded. Piper stepped into the shin high water and groaned as the water soaked through her Cammie bottoms and into her combat boots. Putting the discomfort aside she continued to trudge through the water with Danse towards what looked like an old parking garage. It was only when Piper found herself being suddenly thrown into the water that she noticed a pack of feral ghouls had crawled out of the rubble from behind them. Piper quickly rolled over unto her back to avoid drowning and saw the creature that had tackled her was already up and ready to jump her again. She quickly fired off three rounds into its chest just as it jumped at her again, the bullets destroying its already ruined organs and killing it midflight though still carrying its momentum and landing on top of Piper in a crumpled heap. Piper shoved the corpse off of her and leapt to her feet, now soaked head to toe in water, and helped Danse finish off the rest of the creatures by unloading the remainder of her magazine into them. Piper reloaded as Danse shot down the last of the monsters.

"Ugh…fuck this mission." Piper groaned as she wiped her damp hair out of her eyes.

"It could be worse."

"Speak for yourself, you didn't take a dive in this shit water."

"True, but…"

"No but's, let's just keep going." Piper said, cutting Danse off as she brushed past him and into the garage.

More ferals infested the garage and the two had to fight their way down through the garage to reach the terminal again. By the time they had left the garage Piper had gone through two more magazines and was running dangerously low on ammo with only another two magazines in reserve. As such she had resorted to using the butt of her gun to strike the ferals in the head as they closed in on her, letting Danse pick off the majority of them with his rifle. Finally, the last of the ferals was defeated and Piper was thoroughly done with the day. After Danse made sure the room was clear off ghouls Piper wandered down another maintenance hallway too see Clarke standing behind a terminal in the adjacent room. She quickly pressed her back against the wall and held her pistol at the ready as she crept along the wall in hopes of catching Clarke off guard again. She quickly rounded the corner and leveled her pistol with Clarke, who was still oblivious to her presence despite all the gunfire that had been emitted just minutes before.

"Don't Move. Turn around slowly." Piper ordered, keeping her weapon trained on the Initiate.

"What the!?" Clarke shouted in surprise as he whirled around to see Piper with her pistol aimed at him. "Shit. You again. Look this isn't what it looks like." Clarke explained, raising his hands in an attempt to placate Piper.

"Oh really? And what's this look like to you huh?" Piper replied sarcastically.

"You don't understand. I couldn't just leave them down here to fend for themselves."

"The ghouls? You stole your soldier's food to feed ferals?"

"We wronged them! The Brotherhood massacred them when we took the airport, I massacred them. I found these ones and they gave me a chance to atone for what I've done."

"Clarke ferals are mindless, insane, they don't care about anything then survival. I get that you feel bad about killing, but you're wasting your time trying to make up for that here."

"So what, you just want me to leave so you can put them down, like animals!" Clarke yelled angry.

"Stand down Clarke!" Piper shouted as Clarke reached for his sidearm.

"No! Fuck you, I won't let you kill…" Clarke didn't get to finish his sentence as Piper fired a single bullet into his chest, sending Clarke back into the wall before crumpling down on the floor. Clarke placed his hand over the wound and stared at the blood that covered his palm before looking up to see Piper still had her pistol trained on him, a saddened expression on her face. She was the last thing he saw before closing his eyes for the final time. After he died Piper steadied herself against the terminal Clarke had been using and stared down at his body, remorse filling her conscious. She had killed before in firefights but this… this felt like murder, an unfortunate event that had transpired because she had failed to stay in control of the situation. She knew Ryan would tell her she had done the right thing, that her life had been in danger but she couldn't shake the feeling that Clarke's blood was on her hands. After resting for a moment she stood up and collected Clarke's dog tags before returning to Paladin Danse.

"I heard gunfire are you alright?" Danse asked as she reappeared in the terminal.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She replied unconvincingly.

"What about Clarke?"

"Dead." She replied, handing his tags over to Danse.

"I see. Then there's nothing more for us to do here. I'll have a squad clear out the remaining ghouls and collect Clarke's body. Come on let's get out of here."

"Yeah. I've had enough of this place…"


	33. Lima Oscar Lima

" _ **Now Entering Forward Operating Base Camp Sanctuary: Home of First Battalion, First Marines"**_

Piper stared at the sign that had been erected in front of the entrance of Sanctuary Hills. In the months following the reestablishment of the Marine Corps Sanctuary had grown from a small settlement into the second largest outpost owned by the Marines. Large barricades had been constructed around the perimeter and an entry control point manned by four Marines at all times established at the entrance. The old houses closest to the perimeter had been torn down and replaced with barracks to house the 1/1 infantry battalion while the buildings further inside were refurbished for civilians to live in.

Since converting the settlement 1/1 was charged with pacifying the North West corner of the Commonwealth AO (Area of Operation), fighting off raiders, super mutants, and feral ghouls to allow people to live in peace, dispatching regular patrols across the AO. That being said the North West was now relatively quiet, and the reason that Ryan had decided to bring the two of them out here for a much needed vacation.

Before leaving for Sanctuary though the two had made a quick visit to MCRD (Marine Corps Recruit Depot) Spectacle Island to attend MacCready's appointment to Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps, the enlisted counterpart to Ryan's own billet as Commandant of the Marine Corps. After the appointment they stayed for a day to observe some of the recruits training and Ryan was pleased to see that Cait had taken to her new position of martial arts instructor well, teaching a company of recruits the basics of fighting and gradually working them up to more advanced techniques as their training cycle progressed. Meanwhile Piper had taken the time to interview some of the newest Marines waiting to graduate about their experience on the island, to which the majority of the responses went along the lines of "it was brutal, but the best thing I've ever done."

Once the day was over the two said their goodbyes and began their trip to Sanctuary, arriving around noon the next day.

"Wow, we actually made it without being attacked once. Crazy to think that just a few months ago this place was crawling with raiders and who knows what else?" Piper commented once they were through the gates.

"Yeah I know. It's great to see that we're actually making a difference for the people living here." Ryan agreed.

"We've certainly come a long way, remember when it was just us, Preston, and MacCready running around helping everyone?" She continued as they made their way down the street to Ryan's old house.

"Oh you mean the good old days when we'd get shot at every time we went anywhere, yeah I have fond memories of those. I especially remember a certain reporter dragging me into all sorts of trouble not even a day after meeting her." Ryan said, stopping in front of his house and crossing his arms over his chest while smirking at her.

"Yeah I wonder whatever happened to her?" Asked Piper, rubbing her chin in thought and staring up at the sky.

"I heard that she helped a certain General rebuild a military force from the ground up and that she's helping him try to infiltrate the Institute and bring peace to the Commonwealth." He answered, closing the distance between them and staring into her beautiful eyes.

"Mmmm, sounds about right but you missed the part were the reporter and the General fall madly in love with each other." Piper reminded, smiling up at him.

"How stupid of me to forget that part…" Ryan whispered, catching her lips in a passionate kiss. If he could, Ryan would live in this moment the rest of his life, after rescuing his son from the Institute that is, but for now this would do. But as always happy moments never seemed to last long for the two.

" **Hell yeah Sir!** " A group of Marines cheered, startling Ryan and Piper as they passed by on their way back to the barracks.

"Rah, get some Marines!" Ryan laughed back at them as Piper looked over her shoulder, face red with embarrassment.

"Well so much for a peaceful vacation…" Piper muttered once the Marines were out of earshot.

"Oh come on, their just having fun. My guys and I did the same thing back in the day."

"Yeah well I'd like to get back to the just us part." Piper replied before yelping as Ryan suddenly swept her up into his arms.

"Say no more Miss Wright." Ryan said as he smiled back down at her before carrying her inside and kicking the door closed behind them.

Piper woke the next morning to find herself being held in Ryan's arms. The previous night had been wonderful if their state of undress was anything to go by and Piper wished that she'd wake up this way every morning. She smiled happily as she relaxed further into Ryan's hold. Upon feeling her stir, Ryan awoke and pressed a kiss to Piper's head.

"Morning beautiful, sleep well?"

"Mmm, very. You know, we should do this more often."

"Ha! I'm totally down for that idea. Just gotta save the world from a bunch of nerds with an army of laser wielding robots and sci-fi troops led by the spitting image of my deceased wife first, so no big deal right?"

"Oh totally not a big deal what so ever. In all seriousness though, I think we've got a pretty good chance of coming out on top in the end."

"Here's hoping. Now come on we've earned this vacation, so let's enjoy it huh?"

* * *

 **Elsewhere**

Winlocke and Barnes approached the old church cautiously, a squad of Gunners behind them with weapons at the ready. They'd received word of a contract promising good pay from a woman named Nora and she'd requested that they meet here in person to discuss the terms of her job. Now normally they'd go in full of bravado, but rumors had begun to pop up across the Commonwealth that this Nora was an agent of the Institute or synth or something else along those lines and the fact that the Marine Corps had posted a bounty on her only provided more credibility to those claims. Still what she was promising was worth the risk. The Gunners took a moment to let their eyes adjust to the dim lighting as they entered the church and sure enough they saw a woman in dark clothing lounging casually on one of the still intact pews.

"Alright we're here, start talking." Barnes demanded as he approached her. The woman shifted her gaze to Barnes, who was slightly unnerved by her eerie yellow eyes, and chuckled quietly to herself before speaking.

"You're in position to make demands of me like that, I'll talk when I'm damn well good and ready." She replied. The two Gunners looked at each other, confused that this woman would talk back to them like that.

"Listen here bitch, we walked half way across the Commonwealth to meet you here and if you hadn't noticed there's more of us than there are of you, so we'll be making the demands here!" Winlocke shot back. Instead of the reaction Winlocke had been hoping for, Nora just burst out laughing, unnerving the not just Winlocke and Barnes but the rest of the Gunners with them.

"Ha ha, oh that's funny, you two are a riot!" She laughed before snapping her fingers. Suddenly the two felt the cold feeling of a muzzle being pressed against their skull's as Nora continued laughing to herself. Looking behind them the two saw that Stormtroopers had surrounded them and were holding their men at gun point. The Troopers behind them walked them forward and forced them on their knees in front of Nora. "As amusing as this dick measuring contest is, I believe that I have the upper hand here."

"Look man, don't fry us, just tell us what you want, ok?!" Barnes replied lamely.

"Yeah, we didn't mean it miss, just tired is all!"

"Don't worry, I think this arrangement will be mutually beneficial to the both of us, if you're willing to obey my orders that is."

"Yeah, following orders is our job ma'am. What'd you have in mind?"

"I'm sure you've noticed that with this revival of the Marine Corps, business has been dropping for your organization…" Nora stated, to which the two nodded in agreement. "…they've begun to be a thorn in my side as well. I also know that you two are looking for a little payback on Robert MacCready, or should I say Sergeant Major MacCready, for quite some time. What I'm proposing will allow you two to have you're petty vengeance and in turn will weaken the Marine Corps."

"Hey this sounds good to me, but you still haven't told us what you want us to do."

"I was just getting to that. Sergeant Major MacCready oversees the training of recruits on Spectacle Island off the coast of Boston. The training camp is protected by a large wall running the perimeter of the facility and is guarded by troops at all hours, a frontal assault would be easily defeated. However, being on an island means they require scheduled resupply from the mainland. Once every two weeks a cargo ship docks at the island, that's your way in. Assemble a strike force, capture that ship, and kill everyone in that training facility. Think you can handle that?"

"Yeah, yeah I do. Details can be worked out but I get the concept."

"Excellent. Here's your payment in advance, twenty-five thousand caps as promised." Nora said as a Trooper dropped a crate of caps in front of the two. "Now obviously I want to make sure my investment isn't going to be wasted, My Stormtroopers will accompany you on this mission to make sure the job gets done, fail me and they will kill you in whatever way they deem appropriate. Understood?"

"Yes Ma'am, we won't let you down!" The two replied before they were ushered out of the building.

Once the Gunners were gone Nora addressed her Commander. "Kill them once the mission's complete but keep their Soldiers alive, they'll make excellent cannon fodder don't you think?"

"As you wish Ma'am" The Commander dutifully replied.

Nora smiled to herself, soon she would deliver a crushing blow to Anderson's forces and tip the scales in her favor.

* * *

 **Hey, long time no see right? Gotta apologize that's all my fault, back to back field ops and lack of inspiration, but I'm getting back into the swing of things. Got a lot of free time coming up so hopefully new updates every other week (Rah?)**

 **Anyways sorry to keep you guys waiting, I'll go haze myself later.**

 **(Bonus points if you can deduce the chapter's title, it's stupid simple.)**

 **Semper Fi**

 **-StormTrooper96**


	34. The Slaughter of Spectacle Island

Securing the Boston port had been a relatively affair, the Marine guards had mostly been PFC's with a handful of Lance Corporal's to oversee them. During the night some Gunners had slipped in and taken out the guards and swapped uniforms with them allowing the strike force, which consisted of two platoons of gunners accompanied by a platoon of Stormtroopers dressed in gunner uniforms and equipment as opposed to their trademark armor, to stow away in the ship's cargo until they were brought inside the recruit depot.

"Alright everything's set, we can push out whenever." Barnes told the Stormtrooper Commander overseeing the operation.

"Good, once we're in we need to neutralize the depot's comm tower and prevent them from calling for help. After this is accomplished it should be a simple affair to take the depot." The Commander replied casually.

"Got it. Alright Winlocke let's get this boat moving!" Barnes shouted up to Winlocke in the control room.

"On it boss."

* * *

"So Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps huh, that's kind of a big jump from being mayor of a town full of kids." Ashley told MacCready. She'd stopped by the depot after giving now Sergeant Perez control of her squad to catch up with her old friend from back home.

"Yeah it is, and it's weird too having all these people look up to me like they do." He replied.

"You should be used to it, can't be too different from Little Lamplight."

"I guess you're right, not like I'm exactly lacking in the telling people what to do department, right?" He joked.

"Oh I definitely remember you being a little prick!" Ashley laughed.

"Shut up Mungo."

"Ha ha, man you crazy kid's. Whatever happened to Lamplight anyway?" Ashley asked but MacCready's attention seemed to be elsewhere. Ashley followed MacCready's gaze out the window and saw the depot's cargo ship pulling up to the docks.

"That's weird, ship usually comes in during the morning, but it's early evening." MacCready muttered.

"Huh, must've got an early start."

* * *

"Hey, you guys are bit early you know?" The guard at the depot asked as the shipping crates were being offloaded.

"Yeah I know but we got an important shipment that needed to be delivered ASAP." Winlocke played along.

"Right, well let's get this done quick, my shift ends in half an hour."

"I think it'll end sooner than you think…" Winlocke told him before shooting him with a suppressed pistol as the crates opened revealing their hidden cargo.

"Alright you grunts spread out and disable the comm tower, than you can have as much fun as you like." Barnes ordered once the troops were assembled. Their orders received the small army of Gunners quickly dispersed from the docks and made their way into the training depot. Soon the sounds of gunshots and screams could be heard across the depot as the Gunners and disguised Stormtroopers engaged in firefights with the unprepared Marine Instructors and their recruits.

* * *

"Shit shit shit! We're overrun, we need reinforcements!" Ashley yelled as she fired her rifle over her and MacCready's cover.

"I know that! Bastards took out our comm tower, we're on our own!" He shouted back.

It didn't take long for the two to figure out what was going on once the shooting started. MacCready had immediately tried to call the Castle for help but a large explosion had taken out comms shortly after he picked up the radio. Since then the two had rallied as many Instructors and Recruits as they could and created a defensive line at the rifle range, using the berms as firing positions until they had been pushed back to the pits. They'd taken massive casualties since the attack began, the barracks closest to the docks had been completely wiped out and they had lost more people on their way to the range, totaling too near two hundred recruits and instructors killed in just under an hour.

"FUCK YOU MOTHER FUCKERS!" Cait shouted as she fired a long burst from a machine gun into the Gunners line. She'd been awake at the sparring pits when the attack began and had immediately gone to help the other instructors defend the recruits.

"Cease fire, cease fire! Your wasting ammo into the berm!" MacCready shouted but she wasn't having any of it.

"Fuck you too, they killed my students!" She yelled back at him before resuming firing uncontrollably. Too say she was distraught would be an understatement.

Suddenly whistling could be heard over the gunfire before explosions started going off over the berm.

"Shit, Mortars! Everyone get down!" Ashley yelled as a mortar struck the edge of the berm, taking out a group of recruits with the resulting shrapnel. The rest of the them balled up as more mortars rained on down around them, bracketing them in before finally landing on their target. The explosions were deafening and Ashley shut her eyes as those unlucky enough to be near the explosions were blown apart or turned to pink mist. But as soon as the explosions began they stopped and Ashley opened her eyes to see that most of defenders were either dead or dying, but looking over herself she found that she just had minor shrapnel wounds. She looked to where Cait had been but she found that the woman was just gone, a twisted machine gun lying in a blackened crater was all that remained.

"Ash…" A voice called out from behind her. She turned around to find MacCready lying in a large pool of his own blood.

"No no, hang on I can fix you!" She cried as she kneeled next to him and started going over his injuries. _"Multiple lacerations, arterial bleed, possible concussion."_ She listed off before trying to render aid.

"No…No time. Need to… need to get out." He struggled to say as blood started to fill his lungs. Sure enough Gunners had begun to jump the berm and were executing whoever hadn't died in the bombardment.

"No…I won't leave you!" Ashley pleaded.

"You have too…the others…still need you."

"MacCready, I'm so sorry."

"Don't be…now go!"

Reluctantly Ashley left MacCready's side and jumped over the opposite side of the berm and ran until she reached the islands far shore, taking shelter inside the pre-war boat stuck in the sand. Once she was sure she wasn't followed Ashley balled up on the floor of the bridge and sobbed to herself.

* * *

"Well well, what do we have here?" Barnes asked Winlocke as they walked over to where MacCready lay bleeding out.

"Looks like something the cat dragged in." Winlocke laughed.

"You should've left the Commonwealth when you had the chance MacCready, but your loss is our gain."

"Screw…you." MacCready struggled to say.

"Ha, that's it? Pathetic. You're not even worth the bullet."

The two were going to continue their taunting when the Stormtrooper Commander walked up and fired a round from his rifle into MacCready.

"What the fuck man, we weren't done with him!" Barnes shouted angrily.

"Taunting a defeated enemy is a pointless exercise." The Commander replied, indifferently. "You've preformed your job well; Lady Nora well be pleased. The rest of your reward as promised." He said, dropping another bag of caps in front of them. The two greedily begun counting the caps inside, unaware of the Commander's conversation with Nora over his radio.

"Come, Lady Nora requires our presence at your base of operation." The Commander informed the two.

"What for? We've done our part."

"She wouldn't say other than it was important to the future of your organization." The Commander replied before rounding up the remaining troops and herding them back to the docks. The assault had been a success, the depot had been trashed and over three-hundred Marines and recruits had been slaughtered, effectively crippling the Marines and kicking off the war between the Commonwealth and the Institute.


	35. Takeover

**What? Two chapters in one weekend? It's because I love you guys that much.**

" _Friends I'm sorry to say that I have terrible news for you all. Several hours ago the Marine's training ground on Spectacle Island, where just over three-hundred Marines and recruits train, was suddenly and deliberately attacked by a small army of Gunners who are suspected to have been aided by the Institute. It has been confirmed by Marine officers that all personnel on the island during the attack are either confirmed killed in action or missing in action, including Sergeant Major Robert MacCready. General Anderson had this to say about the attack."_

" _Our Corps has been struck at its very foundation, but we will not allow this attack to break us. We've suffered loss before, but time and again we've always risen, stronger and more united than ever. Our enemies are cowards, striking out at those who have just begun their training instead of facing our combat tested troops on the field of battle. Those Marines and recruits died honorably, fighting side by side with each other, refusing to go down without a fight. Young men and women from across the Commonwealth, made the conscious decision to put the lives of their friends and families above their own and willingly gave their lives in the defense of our communities. There is no higher honor than that. To the families of those who died in this cowardly attack, I offer you my most heartfelt apology. Your children were just as much a part of my family as they were yours and I mourn each and every one of them. Know that your children came to us as recruits and died honorably as Marines. Rest assured that those responsible for this act of cowardice will be found and brought to justice by the full force of our Marine Corps. May god bless our fallen brothers and sisters, and may they watch over us in battle. Semper Fidelis."_

" _Following the attack the Brother Hood of Steel expressed their own condolences and assured the Marines their continued support."_

* * *

 **Gunner's Plaza**

It was raining as usual at Gunner's plaza, but for some reason the area felt even more ominous than usual. Instead of the usual Gunner's patrolling the walkways Stormtroopers stood guard all over the place and a flag displaying the insignia of the Institute flew from the radio tower.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Barnes asked the Stormtrooper Commander as they walked up to the compound.

"A demonstration." The Commander answered.

"A demonstration of what!?" Barnes asked again but he was met with silence.

The small army walked into the compound main lobby where they saw the rest of the Gunners standing in a mass formation talking amongst themselves. The Stormtroopers ushered the returning Gunner's into the formation. There was mass confusion as to what was going on but suddenly they spotted something on the balcony overlooking them. Captain West was suddenly brought out by an escort of Stormtroopers and forced onto his knees facing his troops as Nora walked out behind him, pistol in hand. The Gunner's watching cried in outrage at seeing their leader being thrown about but were quickly silenced when the Stormtroopers standing guard prepped their weapons.

"Gunner's I'd like to congratulate you on a job well done. You've done so well that I've decided to take you all as my own soldiers to supplement my Stormtroopers. Unfortunately, your commander Captain West didn't find this agreeable, isn't that right Captain?"

"Fuck you whore!" Captain West shouted, earning a bullet in the gut from Nora.

"Manner's Captain, that wasn't very nice. After some aggressive negotiations we ended up here, in front of you all." She smiled before pointing her pistol at Captain west and firing another round through his head, shocking the Gunner's below. "Now if any of you would like to join your dear Captain please step forward. However, if you decide to join me, I will give you the glory you've been looking for and all the money you could ever want. Join me and we'll make the Commonwealth bend to our will!" Nora proclaimed. The Gunner's looked amongst themselves before slowly but they all bent their knee to their new Commander.


	36. The Mechanist

The same stupid message had kept repeating itself for over a week now, setting Nora on edge at its annoyance. Someone calling themselves the Mechanist had unleashed an army of robots across the Commonwealth to try and curb the violence the war was causing but the robots proved to be a nuisance to both sides, attacking both Anderson's Marines and Nora's Gunners.

Following the attack on Spectacle Island Nora had begun waging her proxy war on Anderson's forces, striking at his Marines stationed on the Commonwealth's borders with mixed results. Shaun had forbidden her from taking military action with Institute forces, transferring control of the Stormtrooper Corps directly to himself and holding them within the Institute after he learned she had used them to take over Gunner Plaza, although he was unaware that she now controlled the Gunners. The Stormtroopers were still loyal to her however and patiently waited for her to make her next move.

Anderson hadn't committed any forces to stopping the Mechanist, his plate was full enough as it was fighting off Gunners and trying to rebuild the forces lost in the attack. Nora however found herself with much free time and decided to personally bring this Mechanist to their knees.

Shortly after starting her mission Nora had rescued an assaultron hybrid named Ada from the rogue robots and had agreed to let her tag along, against her better judgement. Fortunately, Ada had proved to be more reliable than Nora had initially thought, providing her with the locations of the Mechanists robobrains. Ada was even willing to have herself modified with the Mechanists hardware which would hopefully give them access to their lair, which is how she found herself currently in engaged in a firefight with several robots outside the RobCo sales & service center

"Stupid machines, just die already!" Nora shouted angrily as she reloaded her IAR behind cover. She quickly inserted the mag and slapped the bolt release before sighting in on the last remaining sentry bot, who had its back turned towards her and exposing its fusion core. The sentry paused to vent itself and Nora used the opportunity to fire at the exposed cores, sending the bot into its critical damaged state and self-destructing.

"Hate those things, come on Ada let's end this." Nora says to the robot as they enter the building. Once inside Ada leads them down into the basement where they find a heavy metal door. "Hmm, door looks too thick to blast through, must be a release somewhere." Nora mutters as she looks around for a way to open the door.

"Ma'am I believe this device is an access port." Ada informs Nora as she walks over to a circular piece of machinery sticking out of the wall.

"Good work, can you open it?"

"Of course, one moment Ma'am." Ada then utilizes the M-SAT device Nora installed on her to interface with the node and in no time the locks on the door start opening and a series of doors open further into the building. Nora cautiously steps through the doors and walks down another corridor coming across a group of robots passing through a decontamination area. She motions for Ada to stay put and waits for the robots to finish passing through before approaching the archways. Nora peeked her head in and spotted automated turrets above both ends of the arches. Not wanting to risk exposing herself yet she reached into one of the pouches on her armor and retrieved an EMP grenade and tossed it into the arches where it detonated and fried the turrets circuits. Nora smiled to herself and strolled through the arches with Ada and entered a small enclosed room. Looking around Nora spotted another access node and motioned for Ada to activate it.

As Ada started working the lights in the room suddenly shutoff and red emergency lights activated, startling Nora who swept her rifle across the room in search of enemies but the only thing that appeared was a lone eyebot.

"So you've managed to find my lair. No matter my robots are more than enough to handle the likes of you." Taunted the Mechanist through the eyebots speakers just before Nora sent a bullet through the machine.

"Well so much for stealth, Ada we're gonna have company."

"All weapons systems are primed and ready Ma'am."

The door then opened and the two proceeded to fight their way through the facility, battling multiple machines and automated defenses as they went. The Mechanist may have created an army of mismatched robots but they were no match for the Institutes top enforcer. As Nora fought her way forward the Mechanist dispatched more eyebots becoming more and more frantic the farther Nora progressed until she finally made her way into the control center and confronted the Mechanist.

"You've finally arrived scourge, now I can end your evil and restore peace to the Commonwealth." The Mechanist said as Nora and Ada walked in front of them.

"That so? Cause your if your little toys couldn't stop me what makes you think that you can?" Nora taunted.

"We'll see how long you last against my robots when you have nowhere to run fiend! Sparks lock the doors!" The Mechanist ordered.

The doors slammed shut and robots began to flood into the room, but Nora stood unfazed as she shouldered her weapon. She and Ada made short work of the first wave of junkbots, angering the Mechanist who ordered more eyebots to swarm them. Nora threw herself behind cover as the eyebots began self-destructing. The Mechanist peered through the glass separating them from Nora, trying to see her through the smoke and to their displeasure Nora and Ada remained standing.

"Rah! Sparks throw everything at her!" The Mechanist shouted angrily.

Soon lasers and gunfire filled the room as swarms of junkbots and eyebots raced in to finish the two off but Nora remained standing through it all. Eventually the constant flow of robots began to put strain on the systems power supply. After several more waves the power finally cutoff, shutting down all the robots in the room.

"What!? Sparks get the power back on!"

"It's over Mechanist, you've lost."

"No! This isn't over scourge! Just you wait!" The Mechanist yelled.

"For what? Do I need to break more of your pathetic toys?" Nora taunted smugly.

"Enough! I'll finish you myself!" The Mechanists shouted before rushing out of the protection of the command center.

Nora slung her rifle on her back as the Mechanist charged down the ramp and punched them in the chest, knocking them down with a dent in their armor. The Mechanist gasped for air as Nora kicked them in the faceplate.

"Pathetic, I expected more out of you." Nora taunted kneeling down and ripping the Mechanist's helmet off revealing a rather scared young woman. "Well look at you, a stupid kid playing hero huh? What did you think was gonna happen? That'd you'd save the Commonwealth from the Institute? Did you even know that your toys have been attacking the very people trying to stop me, so in a way you're no better than me, are you?" She mocked as the girl stared fearfully at her. "So what do you suppose we do to remedy that?"

"Pl please… just let me go…" The girl pleaded.

"Oh I wish I could dear, really I do, but you've been a pain in ass. Besides do you know what that would do to my reputation if people learned that I just let you go? They'd think I was going soft and that just won't do." Nora replied softly as she drew her pistol and placed the muzzle against the side of the girl's head and cocked the hammer back causing her eyes to widen in fear. "Shh, don't worry it'll be quick I promise dear." She soothed.

"No Plea…" The girl was suddenly cutoff as a bullet pierced her skull, killing her instantly.

"Hmm, shame really. She had potential don't you think Ada?"

"Agreed, but we couldn't let her continue to harm innocents Ma'am."

"Oh I wasn't concerned about that Ada; believe me I've done far worse than she ever did. Oh well, this facility is still impressive though. I'll have my Gunners setup shop here, get the place back up and running but we'll make better machines to supplement my forces. Ada remain here and see what you can do, I want this facility back up ASAP."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Hmm, I think it's time to accelerate my plans." Nora smiled to herself as she left the facility.

* * *

 **I really enjoy writing Nora, she just does whatever she wants with no regard for others. Don't get me wrong I still like writing Ryan's side of things but he's more controlled by the rules where as Nora makes her own. Things are going to start coming to a head soon as Nora continues to execute her plans and Ryan's going to be in for the toughest fight he's ever had when they meet again.**

 **And yes Liberty Prime will be making an appearance later on.**


	37. Regime Change

Most days at the Institute where boring and monotonous, scientists worked on their experiments as synths patrolled the halls but today was different, Stormtroopers roamed the halls instead of the Gen-2 synths who were nowhere to be found. Everyone knew of Father and Nora's disagreements and the transfer of control of the Stormtrooper Corps was hardly subtle, tension was building and today it would all come to a head. Today the Institutes board of directors were meeting to discuss the current state of the Commonwealth.

Shaun was making progress in getting the board to extend an olive branch to the Marines when Nora and two Stormtroopers walked into the room.

"Mother, can this wait for later? This is a very important meeting." Shaun asked in annoyance.

"Hmm, no Shaun I don't think it can. Look outside and tell me what you see." Shaun turned in his seat and looked out the window into the atrium and saw a battalion of Stormtroopers armed with riot gear formed up below.

"What is the meaning of this!?" Shaun hissed as Nora smirked.

"You've been very disobedient of your mother Shaun, so now I'm going to take away your playthings."

"Troopers arrest her!" Shaun orders the troopers accompanying Nora but they ignore his command.

"Ha ha, you may have official control of my Stormtroopers by their loyal to me." Nora taunts as Director Ayo rises from his seat to confront her.

"A1-13 Initiate factory rese…" He begins but Nora quickly draws her pistol and fires a bullet through his head, shocking the other board members.

"Anyone else want try? No? Good. Troopers please escort my son and his friends to their quarters."

"This will not stand mother, your insane!" Shaun yells as the troopers restrained him.

"Perhaps, but remember everything that I do is to protect you. If you won't let me do it willingly then I will do it by force." Nora explains as her Stormtroopers escort the board out of the conference room. She then turned to the communications station and initiated a broadcast throughout the Institute.

"Attention Institute personnel, this is Nora Anderson speaking. The Director has just been, ah, relieved of his position. As you all know my Stormtroopers and I are tasked with the security and defense of the Institute and the director's recent actions of meddling in the Commonwealth's affairs have jeopardized the security of the Institute. As such I have taken it upon myself to relieve him and assume control of his station. Rest assured the former director and his board remain unharmed and there should be no need for alarm. My Stormtroopers will ensure that this transition remains peaceful. That is all, thank you for your time."

To say that the residents of the Institute were unhappy with the news of Nora's takeover would be an understatement. Shortly after her broadcast riots broke out across the Institute as the human population and those synths who did not share Nora's views fought against the Stormtroopers. The riots lasted throughout the night as the Stormtroopers cut their way through the Institute, detaining anyone they came across and putting down those who resisted. When the fires finally died the next day many of the Institutes older humans and synths lay dead in the halls while those who had surrendered where sent back to work under armed guard.

The riots didn't concern Nora however; she saw it more as cleaning house. Disposing of those who would resist her had only secured her new position as commander of the Institute. With Shaun out of the way she was free to finally engage the Commonwealths forces with the full might of the Institute and she immediately dispatched her Stormtroopers to secure the border settlements. It was the beginning of the end for the Commonwealth as one by one their settlements burned and their heroes where pushed back.

Or so it would have seemed. Shaun had planned for this day and tasked X6-88 to return to the surface and deliver a device that would allow his father and his allies a way into the Institute. As soon as the riots had begun X6 had made his escape to the surface, but not having time to initiate a precise teleport he had ended up arriving deep behind enemy lines. No doubt Nora would notice his absence at the Institute and would order her Troopers to shoot him on sight. This didn't faze him though, he would still accomplish his mission and deliver Shaun's package, it would just take a little longer than he had planned for. Hopefully Ryan and his friends could hold out long enough for X6 to make the delivery.


	38. Overrun

A month had passed since Nora took control of the Institute and had begun her war on the Commonwealth. Stormtroopers and Gunners had overrun the south, destroying anything in their way and forcing the Marines to fall back to the Castle. Seeing the rate at which the Institute was advancing Ryan had ordered his men to evacuate the remaining border settlements and reinforce the Castle with as many bodies as possible, making it the last line of defense before the Institute reached the city. It was a good plan until the Institute started converting their assault transports into bombers and began bombing Boston, leveling buildings and collapsing what skyscrapers remained, turning what had remained of Boston into an unrecognizable pile of rubble with only Diamond City and Goodneighbor surviving the initial bombardments and the Marines had issued an official state of emergency, warning Commonwealth citizens to stop traveling outside of their cities and to make preparations for an evacuation order. In short things were going badly for the Commonwealths defender's.

Today Ryan, Preston, and Piper where meeting with Elder Maxson and Paladin Danse at the Castle to discuss the situation but it hadn't gotten far until the Castle became under attack Institute forces. Chaos soon followed as Marines manned the Castle's defense's and attempted to repel the oncoming attack but the sheer force of the attack, combined with a sudden heavy rain storm made the fighting brutal.

"Incoming!" Ryan shouted as another barrage of mortar fire struck the Castle, blowing apart more of its defense's. Stormtroopers had managed to dig in deep in front of the Castle and would send waves of Gunners to attempt to breach the walls.

"We can't hold them off much longer General! Ammo's running low!" Preston warned as he loaded the last belt for his machinegun.

"We have to hold this position; they get through and the remaining cities are at risk!"

"They're getting through!" A Marine shouted as a rocket finally blew the gates down, letting the latest wave of Gunner's into the Castle. The courtyard erupted into chaos as Marines and Gunners engaged each other in brutal close quarters combat, using rifles, helmets, tools, and any other blunt objects they could get ahold of to beat the others to death. Both sides took massive casualties but Institute forces had more troops ready to continue the fight.

"Blue we've lost to many men; we need to regroup!" Piper shouted as she made her way over to where Ryan was attempting to treat a wounded Marine. In her travels with Ryan Piper had seen and participated in many fights, but this, this wasn't a fight, it was Hell on Earth. All around her men and women from both sides lay dead or dying in piles of shell casing and pools of their own blood. The constant gunfire almost drowned out the noises of the storm raging overhead. Ryan looked up at her and slowly nodded in agreement.

"Alright, grab Preston and have the men load the wounded into the trucks, we'll rally at Diamond City." He ordered and she quickly ran off to find Preston. Ryan then finished patching up the wounded man he was tending to and sent him on his way to the vehicles. He took one last look at the battle before using the grenade launcher attached to his rifle to shoot a red flare into the sky, signaling Diamond City to prepare for their arrival and to begin evacuating the civilians. That done he began to make his way down to the motor pool when he was stopped by Maxson and Danse.

"Anderson wait, I have a Vertibird in route to fly us to Diamond City and I could use you on the gun to cover your men." The Elder told him.

"Right, lead the way." He replied as he followed the two to their waiting aircraft. Once they were loaded up Ryan took control of the door mounted weapon, a MK19 automatic grenade launcher, before the aircraft started up and gained altitude. As they rose above the Castle walls Ryan used his MK19 to cover his troops as they loaded into their own vehicles and started the convoy to Diamond City.

"All stations this is General Anderson, The Castle has been overrun and I'm ordering the immediate evacuation of all military and civilian personnel from the Boston area. All forces are to fall back and regroup at FOB Sanctuary or with the Brotherhood at Boston airport. Anderson out."

By the time they reached Diamond City the evacuation was well underway with the civilians already loading into troop carriers thanks to the efforts of the Lone Wanderer. After the attack on Spectacle Island she had returned to Diamond City with her squad and been placed in charge of the Marines guarding the city. As the convoy reached the entrance to the city the Humvees were moved to form a protective barrier around the entrance. Thanks to the Institutes bombing runs the buildings around Diamond City had been leveled, creating an unobstructed view of the Commonwealth and providing the Marines with open fields of fire for their machineguns which now pointed outwards. Ryan's Vertibird hovered over the fighting position giving them overhead protection.

As Piper got out of her Humvee she spotted her sister waiting to board one of the evacuation trucks and she quickly ran up to her and gathered her up in a tight embrace.

"Oh thank god you're alright!" Piper cried as she hugged her sister.

"Piper what's going on? Why are we leaving!?" Nat asked. Nick had just ran up to her and told her that they had to leave the city before running off again to help gather more people.

"The Institute, they overran the Castle and are on their way here now. We're evacuating all of you to Sanctuary before they get here." Piper told her sister just as a bolt of energy struck the wall just above their heads. Suddenly the fighting had started up again as the Institute made their advance towards the city. They had a harder time though, as the many machineguns and Ryan's grenade launcher held them back, but not for long. Piper was going to say more to Nat but another Marine ran up to them and spoke to her.

"Lieutenant we need to load her up onto the truck now!" He shouted as he pushed Nat towards the waiting truck.

"No Piper wait!" Nat cried out as the Marine lifted her up into the trucks bed.

"You'll be safe Nat. I'll see you back at Sanctuary I promise!" Piper told her as the truck started and began to drive off with the convoy. Piper than took a deep breath and ran to rejoin the fighting, finding her cousin and her Sergeant behind one of the Humvees.

"Nice of you to join us!" Ashley greeted as Piper ducked behind the truck with them.

"Couldn't let you two have all the fun could I." She joked.

"With respect Ma'am, if this is what you classify as fun then I think you need some serious mental help." Sergeant Perez replied after firing off some bursts at the incoming Stormtroopers.

The three continued to fight alongside the rest of the defenders, holding off the Institutes forces long enough for the evacuation convoy to get some distance for the fighting before preparing to fall back themselves. Ryan was about to give the order to fall back when Piper spotted Institute assault transports fly overhead, heading towards the convoy. Ryan did his best to stop them, shooting down two with his grenade launcher but the rest managed to get through and Piper watched as they flew over the convoy and started dropping bombs. Ryan saw what happened and tried to make contact with the convoy but was unable to reach anyone.

Before Ashley or Sergeant Perez could stop her Piper took off towards where the convoy was, uncaring that the area would be crawling with Stormtroopers. The Convoy had just made it out of Cambridge en route to Sanctuary when it had been hit giving Piper quite the distance to travel on foot but nevertheless she ran, intent on finding her sister. Once she reached the convoy Piper saw that the lead vehicles had been hit directly but the other trucks, including Nat's, were untouched however a squad of Stormtroopers where already on the scene and had already killed the small detachment of Marines guarding the convoy. Not carrying for her own safety Piper shouldered her rifle and changed at the Troopers, catching them unaware and killing two of them with her rifle, leaving six more standing. Taking cover behind one of the trucks Piper fired at and killed another three. The remaining three forced her back into cover as they advanced on her but Piper was waiting for them and emptied her remaining ammo into them as they reached her.

With the Troopers dead Piper dropped her rifle and climbed into the back of the truck Nat had been in hoping to find her but she wasn't there. Piper jumped out of the back of the truck and set about searching the other trucks to no avail before starting to look over the bodies. She had searched through the entire convoy and was about to give into the hope that Nat had escaped and was on her way to Sanctuary on foot until…

"No…No!" Piper cried, running to her sister, who was lying several feet from the front of the convoy, eyes staring blankly toward the sky. She had managed to make her way this far until she had been spotted by one of the Stormtroopers who had shot her in the back with his rifle, killing her. She collapsed next to Nat and held her close but it was too late, she was gone. Piper closed her sister's eyes and continued to sit there in the mud holding her sister as her tears mixed with the pouring rain.

"I'm so sorry Nat, I failed you…"


	39. A Desperate Plan

Things were desperate at FOB Sanctuary, the arrival of refugees from Diamond City and Goodneighbor caused overcrowding and everyone was on edge after being forced from their homes. Piper had been picked up by the Marines retreating from Diamond City but she had only been given a short time for her sister's burial as the Institute wasn't far behind them. The service had been short but meaningful, with all of Ryan and Piper's friends attending. There had been little time to mourn though as preparations for the Institutes inevitable attack began.

Fighting positions had been fortified, trenches dug, and vehicles placed in defensive positions throughout the settlement. Seeing as the Marines were short on man power Mayor Hancock volunteered himself and his gangs to help in the defenses, manning the posts inside the settlement while the Marines took the outer perimeter.

Night was quickly falling and Ryan was manning the gate defense with Hancock when he spotted movement coming from across the bridge. He looked through his sights as his Marines raised their weapons but upon seeing who it was he ordered them to stand down.

"Hold fire! Lieutenant where the hell have you been?" Ryan shouted down to the figure who was none other than X6-88, or Lieutenant Shepard as Ryan knew him.

"Sir, I must speak with you immediately. I have vital intelligence that will aid you in defeating the Institute." X6 called up. Ryan nodded and ordered his men to open the gate and let him pass. He was then led to Ryan's office where the two could speak in private.

"You've been gone for a long time Lieutenant, where have you been?" Ryan asked again.

"I will get to that Sir, but first I must admit something. My name is not Shepard, my designation is X6-88 and I am a Courser." X6 revealed and Ryan immediately went for his gun, but X6 raised his hands to show he meant no harm before continuing. "I was sent to spy on you for Nora when we first met, but I am loyal to the director. He tried to prevent her from starting this war and was working towards reaching out to you for peace but Nora has overthrown him and taken control of the Institute. Since then he has asked me to deliver this device to you, it will give you a way into the Institute and you can stop her before she kills everyone."

"How do I know this isn't a trap?"

"It is not, the director and the remaining humans are being held hostage and they've asked for your help."

"Why should I help them? As I see it they've brought this on themselves."

"Because your son, Shaun is with them. Believe me he is alive, for the moment, but is in danger. I left him a month ago and cannot tell you what Nora has done since then."

"My son is alive?"

"Yes, though he is hardly a child anymore."

"What do you mean?"

"Shaun is older now, older than yourself. He is the director."

"I…fuck. How?"

"You were left in that vault for sixty more years after Kellogg took Shaun. Shaun wanted to tell you in person, but given the circumstances I felt it necessary to inform you now. Your son, however old he is, is still alive and he is asking for your help."

"Alright, how does this device work?"

"This device, when attached to a suitable transmitter, will enable you and a small team to infiltrate and exit the Institute undetected at will. Shaun and the other scientists are being held in the residential quarter. I would recommend extracting them before dealing with Nora."

"Right, but just killing her won't be enough to end the war, will it?"

"No, the institute itself most also be destroyed. There is also a small robot factory in Boston Nora has taken over that is producing her robots. Also, the Gunners are based out of the old GNR station towards the south. These three locations must be destroyed to halt Nora's forces and put you on equal ground with them."

"And how do you suggest we do that? I don't have the men to launch full scale assaults and we lack the ordinance needed to destroy them."

"Perhaps you do, but I believe your allies in the Brotherhood have the capabilities that you require. Contact Elder Maxson and inquire about a project Liberty Prime."

"Liberty Prime? That sounds familiar, some project the Army was working on way back been."

"Yes, the Brotherhood has taken over that project and by my calculations should have it nearly completed if it is not already."

"Ok, yeah I like this. I'll get Maxson on the line and we'll see what we can do. Can I count on you to help us with this X6?"

"Of course Sir, I am at your disposal."

The two shook hands before Ryan contacted Maxson to go over the intel he had just learned and formulate a plan with the Elder to finally turn the war in their favor. After hours of deliberation the two finally agreed on a plan and set to work preparing their troops for the coming battle.

* * *

 **We're coming into the home stretch here ladies and gents, expecting to be concluded by the end of next week.**

 **Semper Fidelis**

 **-StormTrooper96**


	40. End Game

Once the plans to push back against the Institute were finalized both the Marines and the Brotherhood scrambled to get everything they had ready for the fight. Marines and Brotherhood forces with the assistance of Liberty Prime would assault and take over Gunners Plaza while a small detachment of Brotherhood soldiers captured the robot facility in Boston. All of this was a diversion to allow Ryan and his team consisting of Piper, Preston, Ashley, SGT Perez, Nick, X6-88, Paladin Danse and Elder Maxson to infiltrate the Institute with a nuclear payload.

Once inside the Institute Ryan's team would split into two fireteams; Ryan's team would make their way to the residential quarters and rescue the hostages while Maxson's moved the nuke into position by the Institute's reactor and set it to blow. Maxson had been against rescuing the hostages altogether but after a heated discussion with Ryan he had relented and agreed. Regardless of their primary objectives both teams had orders to kill Nora on sight if they ran into her.

Back at Sanctuary the strike team was making its final preparations as the assault groups drove their Humvee's out of the settlement to link up with the Brotherhood, in their absence Hancock's men would take up the FOB's security. Elder Maxson and Danse had flown in with on a Vertibird earlier in the day and brought with them one of Liberty Primes nukes.

"Alright, as soon as we get word that the assaults begun we'll kick this off, X6 is everything ready?" Ryan asked, wanting confirmation that everything was set before starting up the device.

"Affirmative Sir, everything is in order."

"Ok, checks finished. Just waiting on word now." The group waited for what felt like forever but finally they got word from the assault groups that they had begun their attacks.

"Alright guys this is it, throwing the switch in three…two…one." The team was then enveloped in a blue flash and within seconds they found themselves inside a white walled room.

"I'm not detecting any alarms; we have the element of surprise for now." X6 informed them once they stepped off the teleportation platform.

"Good, we'll head down to the atrium and split once we're there."

The team made their way to a service elevator in a nearby room and loaded up. Once they arrived at the desired floor they had to navigate through a series of corridors before finally reaching the atrium, which was crawling with Stormtroopers.

"Fuck, no way we can sneak by them. Maxson, take your team and start heading for the reactor; see if you can't draw a few of them with you. My team get ready to provide cover fire." Ryan ordered, readying his weapon. Maxson nodded and motioned for Danse, Nick, and X6 to follow him with the nuke. As they left Ryan walked over to Piper and got her attention.

"Before this kicks off I just want you to know that you're my best friend and that I love you. I know things have been rough for you but if I don't make it…" Ryan was saying before Piper shushed him.

"Don't, we'll get through this. All of us. I love you too, now let's finish this." She told him. Ryan nodded his head and motioned for his team to ready weapons.

"OPEN FIRE!" Ryan yelled as he fired a grenade into the closet group of Stormtroopers, blowing them away while the others fired with their rifles. Maxson's team also fired at the Troopers as X6 led them towards the reactor drawing some of the Troopers attention allowing Ryan's time to move towards the residential quarter. Alarms started blaring throughout the Institute as the strike teams fought their way through squads of Stormtroopers.

Inside his living quarters Shaun could hear the fighting going on down in the atrium and he sighed in relief that X6 had accomplished his mission and brought help. In the month since Nora had taken over she had forced all the humans and synths not loyal to her into Shaun's quarters, making their living arrangements very uncomfortable. As the fighting got closer the hostages cowered together, not knowing what was going on. Suddenly the door into the room was blown open and uniformed men rushed in.

"U.S. MARINES IS ANYONE IN HERE!?" Ryan shouted as he made his way through the smoke.

"Over here!" An older man called out and Ryan walked over to him as the rest of his team secured the room.

"You the director!?" Ryan asked urgently.

"Yes I am the…" Shaun started but was suddenly cut off as Ryan embraced him in a tight hug.

"My son, you're really here!" Ryan cried, hugging his son.

"Yes Father, it's me. I am sorry that our reunion took so long." Shaun replied, unsure of how to process his father's emotions.

"Don't worry about that now, you can explain everything to me once we're out of here. Team Two, Team One, hostages located. On our way back to the exit." Ryan said into his radio after releasing Shaun.

"Oh I don't think so." A voice said from behind him. Ryan and his team turned to see Nora standing in the doorway, rifle in hand and with a squad of high ranking Stormtroopers behind her.

"I'm impressed that you've made it this far Ryan, but your luck runs out here." Nora sneered as she stepped closer to Ryan, but Shaun stepped between the two.

"No Mother." He warned her, catching Nora off guard.

"Step aside Shaun, mommy and daddy need to have grown up talk." Nora growled.

"You are not my mother, and I will not allow you to harm my father or his friends!" Shaun shouted, causing Nora's face to change from an arrogant smirk to one of genuine hurt.

"You don't mean that…"

"Yes, you are an artificial reproduction of the woman who gave birth to me, nothing more."

"I…"

"You're a monster, killing anything that gets in your way and it's gone on long enough. It's time for you and your murderous Stormtroopers to be destroyed!"

No one knows who started shooting first but the room suddenly erupted in gunfire. Ryan's team quickly killed the Stormtroopers after making sure the hostages were safe but once the shooting stopped they realized that Nora had escaped.

"We can't let her escape!" Ryan exclaimed.

"You guys get the hostages out of here, I'll go after her." Ashley said, already making her way towards the door.

"You sure?" Ryan asked.

"Yeah, just get out of here." She replied.

"You shouldn't do this alone, I'm coming along." Piper told her.

"No, your place is with Ryan. Besides I owe that bitch more than a few bullets."

"Respectfully Ma'am, I agree with the Lieutenant. As your second I can't allow you to go by yourself." Sergeant Perez added.

"You're a good Marine Sergeant, and a better friend. But as your commanding officer I order you to protect these civilians." Ashley replied.

"Aye Ma'am, good luck."

"You too Sergeant."

"But…" Piper started, not willing to let her cousin go.

"Go Piper. I'll see you on the far side."

Ryan nodded at Ashley and ordered his remaining team members to form up around the civilians and start heading back towards the service elevator. Once they were gone Ashley started following Nora's trail. Apparently during the fight Nora had been shot and she was leaving a trail of blood behind her which allowed Ashley to easily follow her.

"Team One, Team Two. Package is armed and set to blow in ten, making our way back to the exit." Maxson informed them over the radio.

"Roger Team Two, you hear that Ash? You got eight minutes before we teleport out of here, how copy?" Ryan asked her.

"I copy loud and clear." Ashley replied as she continued following the trail of Nora's blood.

The trail led her up towards the director's conference room, which was closed when she arrived. Ashley made sure her AK was loaded before placing a charge on the door and blowing it open. As she rushed into the room she was immediately struck by a bullet in her left shoulder as Nora emptied her pistol. She had lost a lot of blood however and her focus was fading resulting in the rest of her shots going wide and she continued to pull the trigger even as the gun clicked empty. Seeing that her weapon was empty Nora tossed it to the side and slid her back down the window until she was sitting on the floor against it. Ashley recovered from the temporary shock and casually walked to where Nora was sitting.

"Well…what are you… waiting for? End it already." Nora choked out as she spat blood out of her mouth. Ashley looked over her and noticed that she had been shot in the lung. If she or the nuke somehow didn't kill her she would die of respiratory damage shortly.

"No, you don't deserve a quick way out." Ashley told her with hatred in her voice.

"Oh, don't…give me that. We both know, ugh, how much you want to." Nora mocked.

"Don't worry I'll get mine in the end. I'm going to make sure you don't escape." Ashley told her.

"Fool…you'll die too."

"I'm not afraid to die. I'll die knowing that I helped stop the greatest threat to the wasteland since the Enclave and I'll be reunited with my family."

"Ha ha, you're…family. That's funny." Nora laughed before coughing up more blood.

"You could've had that you know? But you threw it all alway, for what?"

"All I wanted…was to protect Shaun. I can't…tell you where it went wrong…but it was all for him."

"Do you regret it, the things you've done?" Ashley asked.

"I don't…I don't want to die. Not knowing that Shaun hates me." Nora suddenly blurted out with tears running down her face and Ashley saw that her eyes weren't their glowing yellow but rather a beautiful shade of green.

"Shh, it's ok. There may still be a chance at redemption. Call off your Stormtroopers, end this war while you still can." Ashley told her and offered Nora one of the radios in the room. Nora looked from it to Ashley and nodded her head in resignation before taking it.

"This is Commander Nora to all Institute forces…stand down and surrender. It's over, we've lost." She spoke into the radio, broadcasting throughout the Institute and her forces across the Commonwealth. She dropped the radio as Ashley sat down next to her and took her hand.

"History will always remember you badly, but your son will forgive you with time. I hope you can find some comfort in that."

"I…I'm sorry, for what I did to your family. You don't have to believe me or forgive me but I hope that wherever you end up, you see them again."

"I can't forgive that, but I do pity you. Don't worry it'll be over soon."

"Ashley this is Anderson, nukes gonna blow in two. Where the hell are you!?" Ryan cut in over the radio but Ashley just switched it off and leaned her head back against the wall with her eyes closed. She remained that way, at peace with herself until a bright flash blinded her even through her closed eyes and then nothing…


	41. Aftermath

The following morning everyone that had survived the battle had gathered in the hills near Sanctuary as they waited for Ryan to make an address. The Brotherhood had been successful in capturing the robot facility and Liberty Prime had leveled the old GNR building. Word had come to the attack groups on the surface that the Institute had been destroyed and the surviving Stormtroopers and Gunners surrendered themselves to allied forces. Finally, Ryan walked up to the front of the crowd and began his address.

"This war has been long and bloody, everyone standing here knows that, but even when things were at their worst we did not give up. No, we pushed back and continued fighting and though it was costly we came out on top. Looking around there's more than a few faces missing from this crowd, we've all lost friends and loved ones to this war but know that these men and women, our brothers and sisters, died valiantly in the name of freedom. They gave their lives so that we could defeat our enemies and stand here today in victory and demonstrated what it means to truly be Semper Fidelis (Always Faithful). Their fight is over but ours is just beginning; even though the shooting is over we still have a long road ahead of us. Cities must be rebuilt, and order restored but we'll be there every step of the way. As we start to rebuild this hillside will remain barren, a memorial to heroes fallen, they gave their lives for us and they will not be forgotten." Ryan finished his speech with a salute.

"Present…ARMS!" Sergeant Perez commanded the honor guard standing off to the side before they fired a twenty-one-gun salute, signaling the end of the ceremony.

Reconstruction would begin days later, Marines and Brotherhood soldiers helping the civilian populace rebuild their homes even better than they had been before. Months later Diamond City, Goodneighbor, and the smaller settlements would flourish. Mayor McDonough, who had fled the city prior to the battle was eventually captured by a passing patrol and brought into custody. For his actions he was sentenced to death by firing squad, a sentence that Piper felt was too easy.

The Marines would continue to serve as the Commonwealth's force in readiness, defending its citizens from all threats. They're numbers grew after the Institute's defeat, people from up and down the East coast journeyed to the Commonwealth to join the legendary group. Shortly after the Institute's defeat the Marines would be pressed back into service, repelling a large group of raiders intent on taking advantage of their weakened state. The battle-hardened Marines defeated the raiders advanced parties and followed them back to Nuka-World, invading the amusement park and driving the raiders out into the wastes.

Shortly after the Commonwealth's reconstruction the Brotherhood of Steel returned to the Capitol Wasteland, leaving the Commonwealth in the capable hands of their allies. The two factions remained friendly to each other and would often run joint training exercises together. Eventually the two would come together again, pushing west in the hopes of unifying the country as it was before the war.

As for the Institute, their leaders were placed on trial and sentenced. However, the vast army of Stormtroopers proved too large to effectively jail. X6-88 took charge of the Stormtroopers after Nora's death and lead them North into uncharted territory where they would never be seen in the Commonwealth again. Years later groups of mercenaries unhappy with the decision to let them go free pursued them North. They were never heard from again.

After the fall of the Institute the Gunners quickly fell apart. Many gave up their guns and returned to civilian life, many more refused to go down without a fight and would end up killed by passing Marine patrols.

Reunited with his father, Shaun spent his remaining time at Sanctuary helping the Marines in any way he could while catching up on lost time with his father. Sadly, Shaun's illness worsened and he eventually passed away quietly in his sleep. Ryan would bury him next to his mother in a quiet ceremony.

Preston continued his career in the Marines, leading them from the front throughout the reconstruction efforts. He continued to emphasize the importance of defending settlements and cultivating land for future settlements much to the amusement of the Marines under him.

After the Lone Wanderer's death Sergeant Perez found himself in charge of her squad and he quickly fell into the role, leading them through several raider attacks and the campaign against Nuka-World. He would continue to rise through the ranks, eventually becoming Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps before retiring years later to his home town of Goodneighbor.

As for Ryan and Piper, the two retired from active service after the fall of the Institute with Preston taking over Ryan's position as Commandant. The two would eventually marry in a public ceremony at Sanctuary and would start a family of their own. When their first daughter was born, she was named Ashley in honor of the Lone Wanderer. The three would happily live out their new lives at Sanctuary.

The Commonwealth was forever changed by the actions of Sole Survivor of vault one-eleven. Brought forward from another time, in search of a missing son, and forced into another war to decide the fate of everyone in the Commonwealth. Many good men and women from all walks of life came together, united by one man, fought and died in the name of freedom, just as they had in the old world.

Because war…war never changes.

* * *

 **And finally we conclude. Gotta say I had a lot of fun writing this story (even if the majority was winged), and I hope all of you that have stuck around since the beginning almost a year ago have enjoyed reading it as much as I had writing it. I cannot thank enough those of you who have reviewed and offered guidance when needed, you guys are the ones that made this possible. This story was very different from the game but I believe that's the whole point of this site, to make your own story based on the original and I do believe that that was accomplished here. Sure there were bumps here and there but that's part of the learning experience and I can definitely say that I have learned a lot from this experience that hopefully will be carried over into other works.**

 **Thanks again for taking the time to read, review, and advise**

 **Semper Fidelis**

 **-StormTrooper96**


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